India heads to the polls in world’s biggest election

Muzaffarnagar and New Delhi CNN —

Polls opened Friday in the first and largest phase of India’s marathon election, in which populist Prime Minister Narendra Modi is widely expected to secure a rare third consecutive term and deepen his historic transformation of the world’s most populous nation.

About 969 million people are eligible to vote in the biggest democratic exercise in human history, with polling taking place in seven phases over the next six weeks. Votes will be counted on June 4.

It is considered among the most consequential votes in decades, with Modi’s powerful right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seeking an outright majority in the lower house of parliament, or Lok Sabha.

An emphatic win for the BJP would give the party a mandate to further enshrine its Hindu-nationalist agenda, pulling away from India’s secular foundation toward majoritarian rule.

Opposing the BJP juggernaut is an alliance of more than two dozen parties, including India’s main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, which are campaigning to reduce inequality and uphold what they say are India’s at-risk democratic institutions.

Throughout its decade in power, the BJP has come under scrutiny from rights groups for its increasingly strident brand of Hindu nationalist politics and an ongoing crackdown on dissent and democratic freedoms.

Yet Modi and his party have been buoyed by levels of popularity not seen in decades. According to 2023 Pew research, about eight-in-ten Indian adults have a favorable view of the prime minister.

Since coming to power in 2014, Modi has overseen massive infrastructure spending, building highways, power plants and maritime projects, as well as subsidizing the construction of millions of concrete