Modi meditates as mega elections enter final phase
Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on a spiritual break yesterday to a famous Himalayan site in an apparent last-ditch effort to woo Hindu voters as India’s acrimonious marathon election wound to a close.
On the eve of the seventh and final day of voting in the world’s biggest democratic exercise, Modi, 68, meditated at a cave wrapped in an orange robe in the northern state of Uttarakhand.
Seated on a bed and propped up by a pillow, Modi was pictured inside the cave after having walked on a red carpet to the Kedarnath shrine.
He also shared pictures that he took en route to the shrine on Twitter where he boasts 47.3mn followers.
He had to take special permission from the Election Commission
for the trip as election rules prohibit any campaigning 48 hours before voting.
Modi, who is seeking a second term after leading his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power in 2014, has pitched himself as a Hindu nationalist to curry favour with the country’s majority community.
His hectic campaign which started in March has seen him address three rallies a day on average, criss-crossing the length and breadth of the country.
“PM Modi addressed 142 public rallies, held four roadshows and according to conservative estimates he directly addressed about 15mn people in these rallies,” BJP president Amit Shah said on Friday.
On his trip yesterday, Modi also reviewed reconstruction projects after floods in Uttarakhand in 2013 killed some 6,000 people.
Opinion polls predict that the BJP may lose seats this time despite its formidable campaigning machine, meaning it might need a coalition to form a new government.
As in previous elections, the polling has been marked by violence, most recently in West Bengal where tens of thousands of security forces have been deployed following street clashes between BJP and the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress party.
The gargantuan election has also seen a flood of “fake news”, including photoshopped images and edited video clips, with both the BJP and the main opposition Congress Party using legions of people to manage social media.
“Our base case remains that a coalition led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will secure a parliamentary majority after voting ends on 19 May,” Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy, said in a report on Friday.
“The likelihood that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party wins a majority by itself is falling (10%, from 15% previously).”