NEW DELHI (HRNW) — India’s popular but polarizing prime minister, Narendra Modi, has a fondness for abbreviations that create buzz around his government schemes and dress down his rivals. Last week, Modi’s political opponents did exactly that.
They announced a new alliance — called INDIA — to unseat Modi and defeat his ruling party’s electoral juggernaut.
The acronym, which stands for Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, comprises India’s previously fractured opposition parties that are aiming to keep the Modi government’s increasingly powerful sway at bay. At stake, the alliance says, is the future of India’s multiparty democracy and secular foundations that critics say have seen assaults from Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party.
The opposition alliance is playing on its acronym, saying it will be Modi versus the country in 2024 polls.
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Modi will seek reelection to a third consecutive term in a national vote next year at a time when India’s global diplomatic reach is rising. However, his rule at home has coincided with a struggling economy, rising unemployment, attacks by Hindu nationalists against the country’s minorities, particularly Muslims, and a shrinking space for dissent and free media.
The 26-party alliance is likely to attack Modi’s BJP on exactly these issues — plus a host of other domestic problems, including a deadly ethnic conflict in the northeastern state of Manipur.