With less than two weeks until the highly anticipated first voting phase of the Indian Lok Sabha election, political campaigning is in full swing.
In the week of 1-7 April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi already addressed several rallies and engaged in dialogues with booth workers. The recurring theme in his speeches highlight the substantial tasks ahead, the ambition to propel India to become the world’s third-largest economic power, and countering the opposition’s accusations about anti-corruption move as “political witch-hunt”, as well as their assertions about the issues of unemployment and inflation.
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Meanwhile, the main opposition Congress party released its manifesto calling it the “Letter of Justice”. For a change, this election has seen foreign policy issues such as the Katchatheevu island become much-talked about within domestic circles. Also, there has been a “China warning” in Indian elections by Microsoft, which is grabbing attention. These election-related updates of the week are given below.
Tiffin meetings and roadshows: PM Modi on a whirlwind campaign trail
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been addressing election rallies across multiple parts of India in run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.
Sources indicate he may address as many as 150 rallies during his campaign trail.
Popular venues for political rallies include sports and university grounds, prominent public squares, and major highways.
In 2019, Modi addressed 142 public rallies and 4 roadshows reaching out directly to an estimated 1.5 crore people.
Till mid-week, he had held 11 rallies across 9 states since the announcement of the elections. These include the southern states of Telangana, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu; the northern states of Bihar, UP, Uttarakhand; the western state of Rajasthan and the eastern state of West Bengal. Sources within the BJP say he will address one rally for every 3-4 Lok Sabha seats.
Additionally, the PM has also taken up the task of energising the party workers through booth-level interactions and “online tiffin meetings”.
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“Letter of Justice”: Congress releases 2024 manifesto
The Congress party released its manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters in Delhi on 5 April.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and other leaders were seen unveiling the party manifesto titled “Nyay Patra” or “Letter of Justice”.
The manifesto focuses on “Paanch Nyay” or five pillars of justice: ‘Yuva Nyay’ (youth), ‘Naari Nyay’ (women), ‘Kisaan Nyay’ (farmers), ‘Shramik Nyay’ (labourer) and ‘Hissedari Nyay’ (equity).
The party has also launched the ‘Ghar Ghar Guarantee’ (every house guarantee) campaign, an outreach program that aims at reaching the doorsteps of 8 crore families over the next few weeks with a message about what the party would do for the people if it comes to power.
Katchatheevu Island row
A small uninhabited 285-acre island in the Palk Strait has gained spotlight recently with the BJP’s claim that the Congress – when it was in power – gave away an important part of India to Sri Lanka in the 1970s.
It stirred up a political storm with the BJP making it an Indian fishermen’s issue. “They gave away the Indian fishermen’s rights despite legal views to the contrary,” said External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.
PM Modi also accused the Congress as well as the southern regional party DMK of not safeguarding the interests of the people of Tamil Nadu.
The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry has responded saying the matter was settled 50 years ago.
However, the BJP’s main allegation domestically is that fishermen from Tamil Nadu are stopped even before reaching Katchatheevu. Earlier, Katchatheevu was freely used by fishermen to take rest and to dry their nets. But now they may face arrests or their boats get seized.
The issue has gained the attention of the voters in northern India.
“China warning” in India elections
Software giant Microsoft has warned that China could use AI to disrupt elections in India.
“China is likely to use AI-generated content to benefit its interests,” the software major said in a blog, adding that the target will also include other major elections around the world.
“China’s increasing experimentation in augmenting memes, videos, and audio will likely continue – and may prove effective down the line,” the Microsoft Threat Analysis Centre said in a report.
As populations in India, South Korea, and the US head to the polls, we are likely to see Chinese cyber and influence actors work towards targeting these elections,” the report reads.
China had already attempted an AI-generated disinformation campaign in Taiwan presidential election in January, as a dry run, Microsoft said. There was also an increased use of AI-generated TV news anchors, with the “anchor” making unsubstantiated claims. These anchors were made by the Chinese company ByteDance, Microsoft claimed.
