State Elections to Proceed Despite the Coronavirus Continuing to Ravage India

Indian election commissions demarcate people who have voted with black ink on their index finger (Wikimedia Commons).

As India surpasses 7 million COVID-19 cases, Bihar, its third-largest state by population, prepares for its elections. The Election Commission of India issued an official warning to political parties who have held large election rallies without any masks or social distancing restrictions. 

The coalition between the Janata Dal (United) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), also known as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the incumbent party, has had to fight tooth and nail in order to maintain their stronghold in the state. Its biggest challenger, the Mahagathbandhan alliance, consists of a coalition between the Indian National Congress (INC) party and other local parties. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on October 22 that Bihar would receive free courses of any future COVID-19 vaccines upon the victory of the NDA, however, he received backlash for politicizing the pandemic. 

The Election Manifesto of the BJP for Bihar explicitly solidifies the aforementioned vaccine promise as well as a job guarantee for 1.9 million unemployed citizens in the state of Bihar. Catalyzed by BJP’s Bihar guarantee, governments of the states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, facing elections in 2021 and 2023 respectively, also announced free coronavirus vaccine prospects. Opposition parties criticize these promises made by state governments, saying that vaccine politics discriminate against those living in other states. 

While state governments make promises for future free vaccines, India reported 54,366 new infections and 690 deaths as of Friday, October 23. Meanwhile, with the elections commencing on October 28, rallies continue to congregate in full swing in Bihar in open defiance of stated safety protocols.