How Will Elections Shape India’s Future?

The Heat

India is a nation of multiple ethnic groups and languages. The country is going for elections now in which more than 800 million people are eligible to vote. That’s 300 million more than the total population of the next three democracies: the United States, Indonesia and Brazil. For most Indians, this election is a referendum on the ruling center-left Congress Party’s rule.

CCTV’s Anand Naidoo interviews Indian author and journalist Sadanand Dhume from The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank in Washington, DC;  Sanjay Kumar, Professor and Director of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, a social-science research institute in India; and Chidanand Rajghatta, Foreign Editor and U.S correspondent for the Times of India, the country’s most widely read English newspaper. The discussion centers around the significance of these elections and its impact on the Indian economy.

Under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Congress has faced relentless criticism on many fronts. It has failed to keep food prices in check, pushing basic staples such as onions and potatoes beyond reach of the poor. Under the current government, India’s once robust economic growth has also slowed considerably leading to rising unemployment – a big concern among the country’s youth. The working and middle classes are also tired of the corruption scandals involving government officials and disillusioned with the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty’s role in Indian politics. With Singh retiring this year, the Congress is marketing another scion of that dynasty –Rahul Gandhi — as India’s next Prime Minister. The opposition BJP’s candidate for Prime Minister is Narendra Modi, son of a small-town tea shop owner. He’s currently running the western state of Gujarat.

If Modi becomes Prime Minister, he’s promised to build new cities, reform tax policies, remove obstacles to business growth and improve Internet access. The corporate world enthusiastically supports him, but critics say Modi’s Hindu-nationalist beliefs are at odds with India’s secular ethos. He’s accused of complicity in the Gujarat riots of 2002. Although investigations subsequently cleared Modi of wrongdoing, accusations have dogged him at every turn.

If BJP comes to power, Narendra Modi will become the next Prime Minister of India. Congress and other political parties in India allege Modi of being “communal.”  Anand Naidoo finds out how BJP plans to reconcile its Hindu-centric agenda with India’s secular ethos and how Indians view Modi.

CCTV’s Anand Naidoo interviews Tarun Vijay, Member of Indian Parliament and leader of BJP. Vijay talks about India’s foreign policy and how it might change when the new government takes over in May.

Tarun Vijay on Foreign Policy of New Indian Government

CCTV's Anand Naidoo interviews Tarun Vijay, Member of Indian Parliament and leader of BJP--India's main opposition party which is touted to be the front runner in the current elections. Vijay talks about India's foreign policy and how it might change when the new government takes over in May.