Elections in India: Can Narendra Modi hold onto power?

April 11 marks the start of the largest democratic exercise in the world, as the first of India’s 900 million voters go to the polls to decide if Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party wins re-election. What should we expect to happen, and what will these elections mean for India, Asia, and the United States? AEI resident fellow Sadanand Dhume joined this week’s episode of Banter to answer these questions and more. We also discuss recent political and economic history in India, India’s ongoing rivalries with Pakistan and China, and the future of the US-India relationship.

Sadanand Dhume writes about South Asian political economy, foreign policy, business, and society, with a focus on India and Pakistan. He also writes the East is East column for the Wall Street Journal. His political travelogue about the rise of radical Islam in Indonesia, “My Friend the Fanatic: Travels with a Radical Islamist,” has been published in four countries.

You can subscribe to Banter on iTunes, Stitcher, or the podcast player of your choice, and archived episodes can be found at www.aei.org/feature/banter. This is Banter episode #358.

Learn More:

Truthiness and India’s elections

A Hindu Nationalist wave may lift Modi to victory

China and the limits of Pakistan’s Pan-Islamism