INDIA MODI LOOKS POISED FOR SUCCESS AS DEMOCRACY ACTIVISTS FEAR WORST

India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, cut a confident figure as 2023 drew to a close. As his Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) swept three major state elections in December, Modi did not hold back from predicting that "this hat-trick has guaranteed the 2024 victory"

It was a sign that with less than six months to go before the general election, in which Modi seeks a third term in power, campaign season has begun with gusto.

In India's current political landscape, the consensus among political analysts is that a win for Modi and the BJP is the most plausible outcome.

The prime minister's popularity as a political strongman, alongside the BJP's Hindu nationalist agenda, continues to appeal to the large Hindu majority of the country, particularly in the populous Hindi belt of the north, resulting in the widespread persecution of Muslims.

At state and national level, the apparatus of the country has been skewed heavily towards the BJP since Modi was elected in 2014. He has been accused of overseeing an unprecedented consolidation of power, muzzling critical media, eroding the independence of the judiciary and all forms of parliamentary scrutiny and accountability and using government agencies to pursue and jail political opponents.

While regional opposition to the BJP is strong in pockets of south and east India, nationally it is seen as fragmented The main opposition National Congress party won the recent state election in Telangana but is in power in only three states overall and is perceived as riddled with infighting and weak.