Why elections in India, the world’s largest democracy, are crucial to watch

Last summer, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stood next to President Biden in the White House and said regarding India’s democracy, “there is absolutely no space for discrimination.” He was speaking during a rare press briefing and was challenged by an American journalist on concerns regarding India’s democratic values and discrimination against its Muslim citizens. Over the weekend, in an election campaign rally in northwest India, Modi referred to Muslims as “infiltrators.” His critics have called it hate speech. When he travels abroad, he speaks proudly of India’s pluralistic values and stakes claim to Gandhi’s legacy, but at home, he echoes a high-pitched, anti-Muslim rhetoric.

With the latest speech and the last decade of his rule, Modi’s vision for the country has been clear. In January, when he inaugurated an unfinished, but grand Hindu temple at the site where an ancient mosque was demolished by a Hindu mob, Modi’s aim to advance his Hindu nationalist party and ideals were evident.