Having addressed more than 140 election rallies across the country, Modi arrived on Saturday in Dehradun, the capital of the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand famous for its Hindu pilgrimage sites. From Dehradun, the Hindu nationalist premier travelled to Kedarnath and was due to go on to Badrinath to pay his respects at shrines dedicated to the Hindu deity Lord Shiva. Modi is seeking a second term from India's 900 million voters after leading his right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power in 2014, with results due on May 23. His main rival is Rahul Gandhi, 48, of the Congress party, the scion of India's famed Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. The rival parties have thrown almost daily barbs at each other, accusing each other of corruption, nepotism and fake nationalism.

Source: The Nation Bangkok May 18, 2019 06:56 UTC