Months ago, upper-caste members of Modi’s party boasted they would gain so much political power that they would amend India’s constitution to remove affirmative action, said villager Yogendra Kumar. There was another problem, Yogendra’s friend Nikul Kumar added: Modi never delivered jobs to the poor or kept inflation in check. While the BJP won the most parliamentary seats, it fell well short of securing the majority needed to form a government. The opposition Congress party released an election manifesto called a “Letter of Justice,” appealing to the poor, women and jobless youths. He declared that instead of supporting him, India’s top two billionaires were providing corrupt opposition candidates with vans stuffed with ill-gotten cash.

Source: Washington Post June 06, 2024 12:23 UTC