The world's biggest election is coming to an end: over six weeks, until June 1, 970 million people were able to vote India cast his vote in the lower house elections, the results will be announced on June 4. This also relates to the question of who will be the next Prime Minister of India. Narendra Modi, the current incumbent, is the clear favourite. He achieved huge approval ratings among the population. His supporters celebrate Modi like a pop star and revere him like a saint. On the other hand, his critics see the prime minister as a hate preacher who incites Muslims and ignores the secular constitution.

In the last ten years, since taking office Narendra Modi, India has developed a new sense of self-confidence thanks to rapid modernization. At the same time, inflation raised prices, many people were unemployed and India was downgraded to an electoral autocracy on the democracy index in 2017. In this special episode What now? Julian Sadeghi looks back at Modi's last two terms in office: How did he rise from a poor background to become prime minister? And what did he achieve politically? The answers to these questions were provided by Anant Agarwala of ZEIT's knowledge department, who has been following Modi's footsteps in India for the past few weeks.

This podcast also discusses young voters. One-fifth of eligible voters in India are under 29 years of age. They have been hit hard by unemployment. However, many are afraid of politics and elections so they do not register to vote. South Asian journalist Natalie Mayroth tells how a young trade unionist and a young lawyer, among others, are trying to change that.

Moderation and production: Julian Sadeghi

Editorial staff: Pia Rauschenberger And Helena Schmidt

Cooperation: Olga Ellinghaus And Clara Löffler

Sound design: Joscha Grunewald

You can find all our podcast episodes Here. Questions, criticism, suggestions? You can contact us at [email protected].