he Lok Sabha elections in India startedon April 17.These will be completed in seven phases and are touted to be “the biggest (almost 1 billion voters) and most expensive (cost estimated at Rs 1.2 trillion) polls in the world.”

The two principal alliances, the opposition INDIA alliance led by the Congress and the ruling National Democratic Alliance led by the BJP have released their manifestoes. But before we analysethe manifestoes, let us take a look at some significant facts.

One, the ruling BJP and its Hindutva agenda are well entrenched with the fulfillment of key promises in the past manifestoes like the building of Ram Temple, the abrogation of Article 370 and the dissolution of stateof Jammu and Kashmir (the only Muslim majority state in India), abolition of triple talaq and recent enforcement of Citizenship (Amendment) Act (all affecting Muslim citizens).

Second, many stategovernments ruled by the BJP have passed laws around the so called Love Jihad, cow slaughter, hijab ban (overturned in some with the return of Congress) and a host of other localised propaganda points threatening Muslims in their everyday existence.

The opposition parties have been mostly forced into silence.Many of their prominent leaders have been blackmailed into joining the BIP following direct threats from state agencies like the Enforcement Directorate, the CBI, the NIA and their various avatars. A recent newspaper report mentioned cases against about 25 prominent political leaders that have been assigned to the cold storage after they joined the ruling party. The juggernaut continues. Those posing the most potent threat, including two chief ministers, have been jailed on corruption charges.

Independent institutions like the Judiciary andthe Election Commission have been forced to toe thegovernment line. It took a professor of English facing anti-terrorism UAPA law six and a half years to get out of the prison on bail. Many others, including the young Muslim activists like Gulfishan Fatima and Umar Khalid, remain in prisons while the judiciary looks the other way. A prominent Election Commission member has been forced to resign ahead of the elections. Two known government loyalists have been appointed to the board withoutseeking the once mandatory consent of the Supreme Court. The question of alleged fraud in electronic voting machines continues to reverberate.However, the Supreme Court continues to dilly dally on the issue.

Backed by a humongous amount of money, propaganda machinery and capture of mainstream media, the ruling party led by Prime Minister Modi seems to be well set to move to the next level.

Largely, the opposition parties have been forced into silence.Many of their prominent leaders have been blackmailed into joining the BIP following direct threats from state agencies like the Enforcement Directorate, the CBI, the NIA and their various avatars. A recent newspaper report mentioned cases against about 25 prominent political leaders that have been assigned to the cold storage after they joined the ruling party.

This is remarkable considering that the last 10 years have seen some of the highest unemployment rates in the country (42 percent of the graduates under the age of 25 years are unemployed); loss of education and healthcare services (some 85,000 government schools have been closed and per capita out of pocket expenditure on health has increased drastically). India now has some of the worst numbers on the ratings of children and women suffering from malnourishment and anemiabesides the worsening freedom indices.

All of this is well documented. A recent nationwide surveyrevealed that while unemployment and hunger remain the primary concern for a range of people,most of them see Modi as a winner. This is where we need to turn to the manifestos of the two parties. Based on the range of recent socio-economic crisis, it’s predictable that Congress has sought to bring focus to these issues in its manifesto besides, of course, promising to abolish discriminatory laws like the CAAetc; restore personal freedoms violated by the BJP government; bring the focus back on the economic and caste inequality through a range of revised reservations and employment incentives etc.

The BJP on the other hand has promised to continue its Hindutva run (besides the usual rhetoric of economic progress) by taking Ram, Yoga and Ayurveda abroad in the name of spreading Bhartiyata (Indian-ness)in the name of Modi’s 24 Guarantees (Modi ki Guarantee).It is here that you once again see what has been evident from the beginning, that the party led democratic politics has left the field. A single individual counts and subsumes all. Modi is celebrated as for decisive action (against Muslims) first in Gujarat; then on a national scale; and now promising to establish India as a Vishwaguru (as a Hindu nation). Modi is touted as a leader who delivers on his guarantee. Issues like employment, economic and caste inequalities, hunger and illiteracy don’t matter. His ‘guarantee’may prove be disastrous it did in the bungled demonetization programme or the largest number of fatalities during the Covid-19pandemic but in so far as he is projected as the leader embodying the hubris of a deity, “all is well” as the popular Bollywood song goes.

That is the general message at a time when the people don’t get to hear, see or read analternative viewpoint. As a result, the Indian state is far more vulnerable than one would think it ever was.

The writer has been in the development sector for more than a decade. He currently works with an international non-governmental organisation based in Delhi. He may be reached at: avinashcold@gmail.com