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Nearing elections, India halts new policies. It's the law.

Indian elections, scheduled to start April 7, require government officials to stop announcing new projects and policies until balloting is complete in May. 

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Tsering Topgyal/AP/File
Supporters of the Samajwadi Party shout slogans before they embark on a bicycle rally in New Delhi, India, last month. To ensure that officials don't use government to boost their election prospects, Indian law forbids any new programs or policies in the run-up to an election.
  • By Joseph Schatz Correspondent

India’s election dates are set, setting the stage for the most dramatic election in the world’s largest democracy in years.

But it also means no policy pronouncements out of Delhi until after the polls close in mid-May.

Elections across the country will start April 7 and continue in phases, with ballots cast in various parts of the enormous country through May 12. The results will be announced May 16.

Under Indian law, designed to ensure that elected officials don’t use the machinery of government for electioneering purposes, “the regular functioning of government goes on, but they can’t announce any new projects or policies” until after the election, notes our correspondent on the ground.

For the rest of the story, continue reading at our new business publication Monitor Global Outlook.

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