After 44 days, seven distinct voting phases, and hundreds of millions of ballots cast, today is the final day of voting in the Indian federal election — the world’s largest election ever.
Driving the news: Ballots will be counted by June 4, and incumbent PM Narendra Modi and his BJP party are all but assured to nab a third straight term. The remaining question is whether the BJP will win a two-thirds majority, giving it unilateral power to try and amend the constitution.
Zoom in: The big election issues that Modi must now contend with are dissatisfaction with jobs and high inequality. The rising tide of India’s economy has not lifted all boats, with India's richest 1% now owning its highest share of the country’s wealth since 1961.
- Modi will also continue to be put on blast by domestic and Western critics over discrimination of non-Hindu minorities and India’s creeping descent into autocracy.
Why it matters: Everybody wants a piece of India right now as it's poised to become the world’s fourth-largest economy and gain cachet in the all-important Indo-Pacific. Five more years of Modi threatens to widen the rift between Canada and India during this pivotal time.
- Canada has been trying to ink a free trade deal with India since 2010. That’s unlikely to happen as long as India’s ruling party believes Canada is harbouring terrorists.
Bottom line: While tensions haven’t noticeably impacted Canada-India trade numbers yet — India can’t get enough Canadian lentils — there’s no guarantee that will hold.—QH