Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is flush with c...
MUMBAI/DELHI - Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party is flush with cash, giving his Hindu nationalist bloc a massive advantage over the main opposition Congress party as he seeks to win a second term in India’s general election.
The BJP war chest has allowed it to unleash a massive amount of advertising on social media and send Modi and party officials crisscrossing India to campaign. “We have never ever seen an election with such disparity. Financially, we cannot compete with them,” said another veteran Congress politician, who asked to remain anonymous.
Modi has been topping polls as India’s most popular politician, well ahead of Congress President Rahul Gandhi.Money has become critical in elections given the country’s 1.3 billion population, its voting over 39 days and the sheer complexity of the electorate, in terms of region, religion, language, and caste.
The New Delhi-based Centre for Media Studies estimates almost $8.6 billion will be spent on this year’s vote, roughly twice the 2014 election. When asked whether the BJP had a financial advantage, party spokesman Anil Baluni said “it is not an unfair advantage.”
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