Voting for India's Lok Sabha (lower house) elections kicked off on Monday. In place of my regular India Links, here is the best election-related reading of the week:
- The Economist published a strongly worded editorial last week, which stated that 'this newspaper cannot bring itself to back Mr Modi for India's highest office.'
- Meanwhile, support for Rahul Gandhi is slipping.
- Alyssa Ayres has updated her CFR blog series on the Indian elections with posts on what Tamil Nadu parties, the Congress, and the BJP have said about foreign policy.
- Why populism doesn't lead to electoral success in India.
- Sadanand Dhume argues that secular liberals have succeeded in forcing Modi to distance himself from his Hindu-nationalist stance.
- A guide to India's election symbols.
- After considerable delays, the BJP released its election manifesto on Monday. C Raja Mohan argues that the manifesto's vagueness could offer Modi the freedom to put his own stamp on foreign policy.
- ICYMI, my own take on what a Modi win could mean for Indian foreign policy.
- This interactive infographic illustrates the decline of female participation in the Lok Sabha since 1957.
- The Australia India Institute have been putting English subtitles to Indian election campaign ads. Here's the most recent one, from the Aam Aadmi Party:
