In India’s election, both sides have a very different way of gaining votes, and it’s causing a close, and interesting election. The 1st side is the BJP, this is the party currently holding power, and the Congress party, the party challenging the BJP. According to Narendra Modi (current prime minister and leader of BJP) his “Modi government” is the only Indian government thus far that’s done more than make flashy mottos and done what it claimed it was going to do. He’s been using the conflict with Pakistan to stir the hearts of the Indian people with nationalist fervor. He’s done this by retaliating against the Pakistan-based army group Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), announcing his great accomplishments in the middle of his campaign for reelection. Mamata Banerjee, the founder of the All India Trinamool Congress, had called what Mudi did “a gross violation of the electoral code of conduct”. Mudi’s biggest opponent, Rahul Gandhi, has taken a different approach to collect votes. He offered the fifty million poorest families in India a guaranteed one thousand dollars annually. This could sway lots of the poorer areas to the Congress party. The CNX polling company said if only four to five percent of voters went to the Congress party it would be a disaster for the BJP and could “be a game changer”. When I look at both of these candidates one wants a new India with its roots being from India’s “glorious past”. Using nationalism for his main source of gaining votes. He’s doing all of these great things but seems to ignore the poorest class of people. Nationalism can be a good way to gain votes, but eventually when it fades people realize that it doesn’t solve all of their problems. This is because the president is boosting nationalism through conflict with other countries, (or NGO’s) and the people’s fervor will burn out without continuing conflict, putting him in a situation in which he either must create conflict or loses his support. This idea is explored in the book 1984 in which the country Oceania constantly fights (or claims to fight) either Eurasia or Eastasia. Oceania does this to keep its people focused on a common enemy and not their flawed government. On the other hand, Modi’s opponent Rahul Gandhi is focusing on the poorer people in India, supplying a little more than a sixth of Indians with a source of annual income. Gaining 4-5 percent of the voting population is almost certain for this year or next year. Economic benefits will entice more voters than nationalist pride will in the long term. Modi claims to do what’s in the best interest of the country, but his opponents threatening the office by giving one sixth of India’s population less than a beggar on a United States could get in 2 months. This shows that India is in need of more programs to help out the lower class and that could decide the outcome of the election.

Modi kicks off election campaign with promise of ‘new India’

India’s Narendra Modi’s chances of re-election have been boosted by recent tensions with Pakistan, pollsters say.28 Mar 2019

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Riding a wave of popularity from a recent face-off with Pakistan, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched his party’s general election campaign with the promise of a “new India”.

The 68-year-old pledged economic growth and a prosperous society for all at three rallies in northern India, attended by tens of thousands of supporters, on Thursday.

“This country has seen governments that only made slogans, but for the first time, they are seeing a decisive government that knows how to demonstrate its resolve,” Modi said at one event in Meerut City, Uttar Pradesh state.READ MORE

India announces general election from April 11, results on May 23

“Our vision is of a new India that will be in tune with its glorious past … India’s 1.3 billion people have already made up their minds. Once again, a Modi government is going to be formed in this country,” he told the crowd, who, cheering and waving BJP flags, chanted for another term for Modi.

The ruling coalition led by Modi’s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is widely expected to retain power in the staggered election beginning on April 11.

Some 900 million people are eligible to vote in the ballot, which is considered the world’s biggest democratic exercise. The vote will be held in phases ending on May 19 and ballots will be counted on May 23.

One of Modi’s rallies was held in Akhnoor, part of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir state [Channi Anand/AP Photo]

Boost in popular support

A recent escalation in tensions between India and its neighbour and rival Pakistan is expected to boost the BJP’s chances of re-election.

A February poll by the Times of India said that 83 percent of more than 2,000 respondents said they would want the coalition to choose Modi as prime minister if they maintain a majority.

Tensions soared last month after a suicide attack in Indian-administered Kashmir killed more than 40 members of India’s security forces. Shortly after the attack, a video of the bomber emerged in which he swore allegiance to Pakistan-based armed group Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM).

India retaliated with an air raid against a suspected training camp in northern Pakistan. A village in Akhnoor, part of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir state, was the site of one of Thursday’s rallies.OPINION

India-Pakistan tensions: Who won the war of perceptions?

by Ajai Shukla

The rallies come a day after India destroyed a low-orbiting satellite using a ballistic missile, a military feat only equalled by China, Russia and the United States, which Modi said puts India in the space “super league”.

“[Be it] land, sky or space, my government has shown courage to conduct surgical strikes in all spheres,” he said.

Supporters of Modi took to social media to congratulate the government on the latest feat, but his opponents criticised the timing of the announcement in the middle of election campaigning. Powerful opposition leader, Mamata Banerjee, called it a gross violation of the electoral code of conduct.

Resurgent opposition

Gandhi is the son, grandson and great-grandson of three former Indian prime ministers [File: Amit Dave/Reuters]

Modi’s economic record has also come under steady attack from a resurgent opposition, while the BJP’s main rival, the Congress party, which had dominated Indian politics for decades, has accused the prime minister of stoking nationalist fervour to curry votes.READ MORE

Rahul Gandhi: Rise of the Gandhi family scion

Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi – the scion of India’s unofficial First Family – has relentlessly attacked Modi for failing to fulfil his 2014 election promises, pointing to rising unemployment and farmer suicides.

Gandhi has offered 50 million of India’s poorest families – an estimated 250 million people – a guaranteed basic income of $1,000 a year, if he wins power on May 23.

The BJP dismissed the plan as unrealistic, but some pollsters say the handouts could win votes.

Bhawesh Jha, founder of CNX, one of India’s largest polling companies, estimated that many voters in relatively poor and populous states – Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh – where Congress won power in local elections late last year, could be swayed by the handouts.

“Even if 4-5 percent of voters go in favour of the Congress, it will be a big disaster for the BJP,” Jha told the Reuters news agency, adding that it would particularly help Congress where it is in a direct contest with the ruling party. “I think this could be a game changer.”

Analysis post