The much-anticipated announcement to elect the 18th Lok Sabha in India has been made by the Election Commission of India on 16 March. The general elections that will be held in seven phases will start from 16 April to end on 1 June. The election results will be announced on 4th June and the new government is expected to be sworn in by 6th or 7th June. This will be a history making exercise where close to a billion people will exercise their franchises to elect the new government. The sheer number of voters in India are good enough to give any faint hearted a panic attack. Four states will also go into elections simultaneously with the general elections. This is certainly a historic event for India and for the whole world, and the outcome of these elections will be detrimental to chart the future course of rest of the world.
The ruling NDA alliance swung into action immediately after the election announcement to achieve their ambitious target of 400 seats in Parliament as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Bhartiya Janta Party and Narendra Modi are leaving no stone unturned to reach their goal and making new alliance even with smallest parties to achieve its goal of 400 plus seats. Prime Minister is going around in the country for electioneering especially in the parts of the country where his party does not have a strong presence. His energy, commitment, and devotion to achieve his goals can be a big lesson even for his staunchest opposition. He is visiting three states in a single day and making a connect with his voters even in the unfamiliar territories.
The common man acknowledges the selfless hard work this man has done for them and for the country in past ten years and express their gratitude by turning up in large numbers wherever he goes. This kind of frenzy has never been seen in the country for any other leader in the history of independent India. No wonder he is consistently the most popular leader in the entire world today.
The opposition combined I.N.D.I. Alliance on the other hand is marred with infighting, war of words and distrust.

The alliance has already broken in most states and all regional parties are treating the grand old party as untouchable and not offering seats as demanded by them. Now the elections are just a few weeks away, but alliance parties’ seat sharing is still not finalised yet in many places. This lacklustre and chaotic situation of I.N.D.I. Alliance is a clear indication of election outcome hence these parties have already started questioning EVMs despite Election Commission’s open challenge to all to come and prove the machines wrong. All these parties know very well that the ruling BJP and the NDA alliance is coming back with a thumping majority due to their performance of past 10 years. There is no anti-incumbency against this government even after 10-year rule, which is unprecedented. Opposition parties are clueless on what grounds they should corner this government hence to confuse voters they have now launched disinformation and false narrative campaign.

India is the largest democracy is the world and the pace of development this country has taken up in past one decade is not going to slow down now. People of country have no interest in the politics of cast and religion, and they are well informed on the issues country faces today. Booth capturing and the forged voting by the goons of political parties are thing of past now, that’s what these parties miss now since the introduction of EVMs. Since they can’t manipulate the results by forgery and muscle power anymore so now, they blame the poor machine and the government for their defeat. Voters of the country are very wise, and they know which party genuinely works for them and which party gives bare slogans. One billion voters of the country can’t be fooled forever after all, whatsoever slandering the opposition parties may come down to. -Yugal Parashar