Indian Elections in The Eyes Of U.S. Media

WASHINGTON: The U.S. media looks at India's upcoming general elections as an "insanely huge and complex exercise" to "one of the most significant elections in decades" that will put "more power in the hands and thumbs of the Indian voter than ever before.”

Influential Time magazine described the elections as "the insanely huge and complex exercise", noting that 814 million voters in the "world's largest democracy will go to the polls" at 900,000 polling stations across the country.

"Voters will choose lawmakers from the incumbent Congress Party, which has led India's ruling coalition since 2004, the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, the new anticorruption Aam Aadmi Party and a variety of small but powerful regional parties."

The Wall Street Journal called the elections "juggernaut" as "one of the most significant elections in decades - a contest between a weakened secular left and a resurgent right with Hindu nationalist roots".

"The battle for the electoral supremacy is an evolving process in India and this time, the added opportunity of social media reach and mobile Internet penetration means more power in the hands and thumbs of the Indian voter than ever before," it said.

"Modi's pledge to boost the economy by kick-starting manufacturing and making government cleaner and more efficient has struck a chord with an electorate angry with corruption scandals and flagging growth," the Journal said.

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