Economic Woes Could Become Sticking Point in Indian Elections

India is bracing for a general election in May. And in the biggest democracy on Earth, this means that those elections are also going to be big. In a country of 1.3 billion, 875 million people are eligible to vote in 1 million polling stations this year, choosing between 464 political parties and 8,251 candidates. Out of the 545 lower house seats, two are reserved for Anglo-Indians, White or mixed-race descendants of the British in India, according to CNN.

Economic policy has become one of the sticking points of the upcoming election. While a reelection bid seemed like smooth sailing for Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a while, the race turned competitive in the beginning of 2019. While India’s economy is still growing fast, it is not providing more jobs fast enough for its growing population, causing unemployment to tick up, according to reporting by the Guardian. On top of this, farmers have marched on Delhi frequently in the previous year, complaining about another economic ailment: low prices of agricultural goods like chickpeas and onions.

100 million first-time voters are expected to mix up the election further. Because of India being a country with a high birth rate, 45 percent of the population are currently under the age of 25.