"Modi is saying India is a Hindu country and shall remain so," veteran journalist and commentator Shekhar Gupta told Reuters. A spokesman for Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) however said the government did not make any distinction between citizens on the basis of religion. Adityanath, 44, was elected by state lawmakers on Saturday, a week after the BJP won a landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh by mobilising the Hindu vote. If it were a country, Uttar Pradesh would be the world's fifth-most populous. There are precedents for Hindu devotees taking high office, he said, including Uma Bharti, a former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh state who is now Modi's water resources minister.

Source: Bangkok Post March 19, 2017 10:30 UTC