PHOTO: BBC. India’s Prime Minister Modi (center) during his election campaign
Indians headed to the polls today, April 11, to vote in the first phase of a general election that is widely seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Tens of millions of Indians across 29 states and 7 union territories will cast their votes in 1 million polling stations across 91 constituencies from April 11 to May 19, and the results will be announced on May 23. With 900 million eligible voters, this is the largest election ever seen.
Prime Minister Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a historic landslide in the last elections in 2014, with voter turnout around 66%. The BJP has been campaigning to retain a commanding majority, but faces challenges from strong regional parties and a resurgent Congress Party led by Rahul Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi's father, grandmother and great-grandfather are all former Indian prime ministers; his sister, Priyanka Gandhi, formally joined politics in January.
PHOTO: BBC. Member of Parliament and leader of Congress Party Rahul Gandhi (front, left) and his sister, Priyanka Gandhi (front, right), wave at the crowd.
The Lok Sabha, or lower house of parliament of India, has 543 elected seats and any party or coalition needs a minimum of 272 MPs to form a government.
In their campaign, both parties have targeted the rural poor. The BJP has promised a slew of welfare schemes to India’s farmers, while Congress Party promised a minimum income scheme for the country’s 50 million poorest families.
National security is also in the spotlight after a suicide attack by a Pakistan-based militant group killed at least 40 paramilitary police in Indian-administered Kashmir on February. India then carried out unprecedented air strikes in Pakistan. Since then, the BJP has made national security a key plank in its campaign.
PHOTO: Pavel Golovkin/Reuters. Tokayev was named interim president after long-time leader Nursultan Nazarbayev abruptly announced his resignation last month
Kazakhstan's interim president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has called a snap presidential election, citing the need to eliminate political uncertainty in the oil-rich Central Asian nation.
Tokayev, who replaced Nursultan Nazarbayev following his surprise resignation last month, used a state television address on Tuesday to announce a polling date of June 9.
"We must continue to work on the implementation of the strategy of Elbasy," Tokayev said, referring to Nazarbayev by his constitutional title which translates as "Leader of the Nation".
"This can be done only by the direct expression of the will of the people... As the acting head of state I guarantee that the elections will be held honestly, openly and fairly."
Tokayev said that he had consulted with Nazarbayev as well as other top officials including the ex-president's daughter, Dariga Nazarbayeva, prior to announcing the vote.
PHOTO: Getty Images. Australian PM Scott Morrison made his announcement on Thursday morning after visiting the governor-general.
Australians will vote in a general election on 18 May, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced on April 11, 2019. This vote will determine whether the conservative government wins a third term or is replaced by a Labor administration led by Bill Shorten.
All 150 seats in the House of Representatives will be contested, and half of the 76 seats in the Senate.
The election is expected to be hotly contested in several areas including climate change and the economy.
"[The election] will determine the economy that Australians live in, not just for the next three years, but for the next decade," PM Morrison said at a press conference on Thursday. "We live in the best country in the world, but to secure your future, the road ahead depends on a strong economy," he said. "That is why there is so much at stake."
BY MSEAP Cyber Secretariat (mseap@assembly.go.kr)
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