An Update on the 2024 Indian Elections

May 22, 2024

As Indian elections enter the final two phases, Hindus for Human Rights is sharing a roundup of stories of possible election irregularities. We’ve also released an election guide that outlines the structural challenges to Indian democracy. The guide is designed to ask, “how fair and free can an Indian election really be today?” This roundup speaks both to some of the concerns in our guide and to the hurdles that Indian voters face. 

This isn't an exhaustive list, and as the elections wrap up, we'll be sure to share an update with more stories. From systematic marginalization of Muslim voters to Islamophobic hate speech to disinformation, Hindus for Human Rights continues to echo Indian concerns that the world’s largest elections are not being conducted freely or fairly.

Violations of Voting Rights

“Around 700 fishermen whose homes in fishing harbours of Gandhvi and Navadra in Devbhumi Dwarka were demolished in March last year have found out that they will not be able to vote in this Lok Sabha election. The Election Commission (EC) has deleted their names from the latest electoral rolls.” (Indian Express)

“[Mathura] has the lowest turnout among the 16 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh that have voted in the ongoing elections so far. The low turnout comes amidst claims by Muslim voters that they could not vote for a host of reasons: the poor distribution of voter slips, missing or misspelt names in the electoral roll at the polling station, and hurdles in getting voter IDs issued.” (Scroll)

“On the eve of voting in Srinagar, allegations by two prominent Valley parties – People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the National Conference (NC) – that the J&K administration was “intimidating and detaining” their workers to favour “a particular political party”, snowballed into a major controversy. The Election Commission and the police have denied the allegations.” (Indian Express) 

“The third phase of the 2024 general election in Uttar Pradesh was marred by allegations of police violence in the Sambhal Lok Sabha constituency, with reports of Muslims being subject to lathi charges and their identity cards being confiscated. The police has claimed it was acting to prevent voter fraud, but the opposition has described the incidents as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party using the state apparatus to influence the election in a seat that it is expected to lose.” (Caravan)

"As Mumbai voted on 20 May, journalist Rana Ayyub spent her day visiting all the polling booths in her locality. But she wasn’t reporting on the mammoth elections. Rana wanted to vote. But her name was not on the voters’ list. Neither did seven other eligible members of her family." (Maktoob Media)

Crushing Opposition

“Three candidates in Gandhinagar [Home Minister Amit Shah’s seat], including Chauhan, told Scroll that they faced pressure to step out from the race. All three accused local BJP politicians or those associated with the party of intimidation. Two of them also claimed that the Gujarat Police pushed them to withdraw their nomination… So far, 16 candidates from Gandhinagar have withdrawn their candidatures from the Lok Sabha elections. Twelve of them – including Chauhan – are independents. Four belong to small political parties.” (Scroll)

“Of the 41 people who had filed nominations, 33 were rejected, leaving Varanasi [Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s seat] with its least competitive electoral fray in decades. Compared to 26 candidates in 2019 and 42 in 2014, there are only seven candidates contesting elections in Varanasi this time. Eight applicants, including those whose nominations were accepted, told Scroll that this was by design.” (Scroll)

“ARTICLE 19 and 9 partner organisations express deep concern over recent actions taken by India’s central government against, among others, journalists, political opposition, and media outlets in the lead-up to and during the general elections in India.” (Article 19)

“[On April 29, hours after Akshay Kanti Bam, the Congress’s candidate for Madhya Pradesh’s Indore Lok Sabha constituency, withdrew his nomination and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Dharmendra Singh Jhala, a former air force officer, made his way to the collector’s office to collect his election symbol as an independent candidate – only to find that his name had been added to the list of withdrawn candidates, using a fake signature.” (The Wire)

“The BJP’s candidate from the Surat Lok Sabha constituency in Gujarat has been declared elected unopposed. This follows the rejection of the nomination paper of the candidate set up by the Congress party and the withdrawal of nominations by other candidates.” (The Hindu)

Hate Speech and Disinformation

“India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been accused of delivering Islamophobic remarks during an election rally Sunday, triggering widespread anger from prominent Muslims and members of the opposition.” (CNN)

“As India goes to the polls, it is impossible to avoid the wealth of AI-generated content being created - from campaign videos, to personalised audio messages in a range of Indian languages, and even automated calls made to voters in a candidate's voice.” (BBC)

“Right now, the world’s largest democracy is going to the polls. Close to a billion Indians are eligible to vote as part of the country’s general election, and deepfakes could play a decisive, and potentially divisive, role. India’s political parties have exploited AI to warp reality through cheap audio fakes, propaganda images, and AI parodies.” (Wired)

“Many political ads running on Facebook in India during its current election season are backed by organizations that hide their identity, according to civil society groups and recent studies, threatening the integrity of a process intended to enforce transparency in a system full of emotional appeals.” (Washington Post)

“Claims circulating online in India recently have misstated details about casting a ballot, claimed without evidence that the election will be rigged, and called for violence against India’s Muslims. Researchers who track misinformation and hate speech in India say tech companies’ poor enforcement of their own policies has created perfect conditions for harmful content that could distort public opinion, spur violence and leave millions of voters wondering what to believe.” (AP News)

“An animated video shared by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s official Instagram handle on Tuesday (April 30) which directly named and targetted Muslim Indians has been removed on May 1. As The Wire reported, the BJP video pushed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s central assertions that the Congress, if elected, would distribute Hindu wealth and property to Muslims – whom it describes as the opposition party’s ‘favourite community.’” (The Wire)

“Facebook approved adverts containing known slurs towards Muslims in India, such as “let’s burn this vermin” and “Hindu blood is spilling, these invaders must be burned”, as well as Hindu supremacist language and disinformation about political leaders. Another approved advert called for the execution of an opposition leader they falsely claimed wanted to “erase Hindus from India”, next to a picture of a Pakistan flag.” (The Guardian)

Additional Concerns

“The Election Commission of India (EC) has been facing fire for not supplying numbers of voters actually voting in each constituency in each phase. They have said “451 million” have voted in all the four phases gone by, but constituency-data for all seats which have completed polling has not been given.” (The Wire) 

“Ahead of the election, Apple’s expansion into India in particular has given Modi political clout and created more investing interest among U.S. companies, experts told CNBC.” (CNBC)

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