oaring food costs as a third Covid-19 wave emerges.
The most crucial is Uttar Pradesh, which accounts for about 17 per cent of India's voters. Mr Modi has spent a significant time in the state in recent weeks, from inaugurating projects to holding rallies that focus on winning over women voters and farmers. These five states would contribute nearly a fifth of the Parliament seats when the 2024 election comes around.
"The loss would probably bring back the same strategy they followed when they lost Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan where rural and semi-rural centric development and populist policies took precedence over a strategy of working on a long-term growth agenda," said Ms Madhavi Arora, an economist at Emkay Global Financial Services Ltd.
India's ferocious second wave last year, which saw cases cross 400,000 a day at its peak and overwhelmed hospitals and crematoriums, partly led to the BJP losing the state election in West Bengal last May.Mr Modi has seen his popularity dip last year. It appears to be tied to growing unemployment, which rose to a four-month high in December.
straits_times If you had any sense of Indian politics these elections are anything but tough for Modi. He is winning 4 out of the 5 states by landslide.
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