Elections have been underway since April in India, the world’s biggest democracy. Results will be announced on June 1 as to who will be its next Prime Minister and Members of Parliament. Nearly one in five human beings reside on this gigantic subcontinent, and India’s 968 million eligible voters have been casting ballots at one million polling stations set up in parks, kiosks, buildings, and shipping containers. Line-ups are miles long and the turnout is impressive. Expected to win re-election for the third time is India’s diminutive Prime Minister Nahendra Modi, a career politician from humble beginnings who has governed since 2014 and helped guide India’s modernization and economic growth. By 2022, India had overtaken its colonial “master”, Britain, in economic size, and is expected to surpass Germany and Japan in three years, becoming the world’s third-largest economy after China and America. If current growth rates continue, India will be second in size to the United States by 2050. India skyrockets toward superpower status.
© 2024 Diane Francis
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