The idea of India is at stake in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, argues a commentary

As India prepared for the world’s largest democratic exercise, a commentary by Indrajit Roy, a lecturer in global development politics at the University of York, argued that the 2019 Lok Sabha election would decide much more than who governs: the very idea of India, he wrote, was at stake.

The scale of the election

About 900m registered voters were to cast their ballots between April 11 and May 19 at around 1m polling stations across 543 constituencies. Voting was split into seven phases to ensure adequate security, and results were due on May 23.

A divisive incumbent

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was seeking re-election at the head of the BJP and the National Democratic Alliance, which together held 336 of the 543 seats, with 268 for the BJP alone. The commentary described him as a polarising figure. His supporters credit him with economic development, military strength and national pride; critics point to unemployment they described as the worst in 45 years, farm distress, caste privilege and social polarisation. His main challenger was the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, alongside regional parties in states such as Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh and left parties in Kerala.

The author wrote that critics feared a second Modi term would damage India’s constitutional values and social fabric, citing a rise in lynchings of minorities, especially Dalits and Muslims, and concern among Dalit leaders about affirmative action.

A democracy against the odds

The piece recalled that few expected India to survive as a democracy after independence in 1947. It adopted universal adult suffrage and a republican constitution in 1950, 15 years before the US lifted literacy and tax qualifications for voting, and outlasted doubts through the 1960s despite poverty and illiteracy.

Roy placed India alongside countries such as Brazil, Turkey, the US and parts of Europe facing nationalism, populism and identity politics, and grouped Modi with leaders such as Jair Bolsonaro, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Donald Trump and Viktor Orbán. He cited cow vigilante groups as an example of right-wing populism. How Indians responded, he argued, would hold lessons for democracies worldwide.

What happened next

Votes were counted on 23 May 2019. The BJP won 303 of the 543 seats and the Congress 52, and Modi was sworn in for a second term on 30 May 2019.

Originally published on 6 April 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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