India votes in third phase of elections as Modi escalates his rhetoric against Muslims - AP explains
India’s huge six week long election is nearly halfway through. On Tuesday, voters headed to the polls in 11 states. Among them is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat. Modi, who’s seeking a third straight term, began his campaign with a focus on economic progress and Indias development under him. But more recently he’s doubled down on his Hindu nationalism platform. His political opponents have accused him and his Bhatia Janta party of using hate speech against Indias Muslim minority community. At rallies, Modi has called them infiltrators who would take away wealth from Indias Hindu population if the opposition were to win. Analysts say the change in the BJP’s campaign tone comes as the party hopes to win a 2/3 majority in Indias parliament, which they are trying to do by consolidating votes among the Hindu majority population. Another key challenge for Modi in the polls this time is India’s southern region, which is historically rejected his party’s Hindu first politics. While nearly 970 million Indians are eligible to vote, the voter turn out in the first two phases so far has been around 66%. Most surveys predict that Modi will win, but there are still four more phases to go before results come out on June 4th.