The leaders of several parties from countries across the world have been invited to India to witness the grandeur of the Lok Sabha elections, known as the world’s largest democratic exercise, on the BJP’s invitation and understand the ruling party’s campaign strategies.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has so far sent invites to more than 25 parties from foreign countries to send their representatives to observe India’s Lok Sabha polls. Of these, 13 parties have so far confirmed their visits, Indian Express reported.

Notably, none of the two major political parties of the US – the ruling Democrats and the Opposition Republicans – have been invited.

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The BJP has, however, invited the Conservative and Labour parties of the UK, and the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats of Germany.

Additionally, no Pakistani political party has been sent an invite. The Communist Party of China (CPC) has also not been invited.

From neighbouring Bangladesh, only the ruling Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League has been invited. The Opposition BNP has not been invited as it has been linked with a recent ‘India Out’ campaign on social media for boycotting Indian goods, IE reported.

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All the major political parties of Nepal, including the Maoists, and Sri Lanka have been added on the list. The BJP hopes that the leaders from various countries of the world would visit India during the third or fourth phase of the elections scheduled for the second week of May.

The party’s move, aimed at external outreach, comes in the wake of ‘KNOW BJP’, an initiative undertaken under party chief JP Nadda.

The foreign observers will first be briefed in Delhi about the BJP, the political system and the electoral process of India. Then, the groups of 5-6 observers will be taken to 4-5 constituencies to meet party leaders, the BJP’s candidates, and also possibly attend the rallies of top BJP leaders such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah or JP Nadda.

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Voting for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 in India will be carried out in seven phases, starting on April 19 and ending on June 1. The counting of votes will begin on June 4 and the results will be declared subsequently.