{"id":6739,"date":"2019-04-12T06:04:45","date_gmt":"2019-04-12T06:04:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/durbinnepal.com\/en\/?p=6739"},"modified":"2019-04-12T06:11:44","modified_gmt":"2019-04-12T06:11:44","slug":"india-polls-modis-grip-on-power-likely-to-continue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durbinnepal.com\/en\/2019\/04\/12\/india-polls-modis-grip-on-power-likely-to-continue\/","title":{"rendered":"India polls:\u00a0Modi’s grip on power\u00a0likely to continue"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Delhi, April 12: Tens of millions of Indians joined nationwide queues on Thursday to give their verdict on nationalist prime minister Narendra Modi as the world’s biggest election started amid deadly clashes.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span>Election officials reported a heavy turnout across the 20 states taking part in the first day of the massive exercise which involves 900 million eligible voters and will take nearly six weeks to complete.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

While the 68-year-old Modi remains popular because of his tough stance on national security, he is under pressure over unemployment and controversial economic reforms.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Insults and fake news have surged on social media in the run-up to the poll as Modi’s right wing<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span>Bharatiya<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span>Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress party stake rival claims.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

On the ground, security forces were on high alert and three members of rival regional parties were killed in clashes outside polling stations in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

After five people including a local lawmaker were killed by a roadside bomb planted by suspected Maoist rebels on Tuesday, insurgents were blamed for two voting day blasts in Maharashtra state, where two police were injured, and one in Chhattisgarh state.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In Kashmir, which is in the grip of an insurrection that took India to the verge of war with<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span>neighbouring<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span>Pakistan less than two months ago, one teenager was killed in clashes with security forces.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Police said the 13-year-old boy was killed and six people wounded in protests after polling ended, with demonstrators throwing stones and government forces firing live ammunition.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Tens of thousands of police, paramilitaries and troops were on voting duty in the volatile state.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Thousands of candidates from more than 2,000 parties are running for office in the seven separate days of voting in 543 constituencies up to May 19. Final results will be released on May 23.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Some 1.1 million electronic voting machines are being taken around the country, with some transported through jungles and carried up mountains, including to a hamlet near the Chinese border with just one voter.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

About 142 million people were eligible for the first day of voting.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The BJP has put Modi left, right and<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span>centre<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span>of its campaign to secure a second<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span>five year<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span>term.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“Each (BJP) candidate contesting across India represents a miniature version of Modi. We are fighting not with our name. We are fighting with the name of our Supreme Leader, Narendra Modi,” national party spokesman<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span>Sambit<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span>Patra said ahead of voting.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Critics, however, accuse Modi of imposing a Hindu agenda through re-writing school textbooks and re-naming cities and emboldening attacks on Muslims and low-caste Dalits.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Modi has simplified the tax code and made doing business easier, but some promises have fallen short. Thousands of indebted farmers have committed suicide in recent years.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition Congress party and latest member of his family dynasty hoping to become prime minister, accused Modi of causing a “national disaster”.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“No JOBS. DEMONETISATION. Farmers in Pain… Lies. Lies. Lies. Distrust. Violence. HATE. Fear,” Gandhi tweeted on Thursday.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Playing to its Hindu base, the BJP has committed to building a grand temple in place of a Muslim mosque demolished by Hindu mobs in the northern city of<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span>Ayodhya<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span>in 1992.<\/span><\/span> (AFP)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Delhi, April 12: Tens of millions of Indians joined nationwide queues on Thursday to give their verdict on nationalist prime minister Narendra Modi as the world’s biggest election started amid deadly clashes. Election officials reported a heavy turnout across the 20 states taking part in the first day of the massive exercise which involves 900 million […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,47,44,1,35],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/durbinnepal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6739"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/durbinnepal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/durbinnepal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durbinnepal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durbinnepal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6739"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/durbinnepal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6739\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6743,"href":"https:\/\/durbinnepal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6739\/revisions\/6743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/durbinnepal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durbinnepal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durbinnepal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}