Attack on opposition, Hindutva form key elements of Western media's Lok Sabha coverage
Western media has been writing opinion pieces on India with a high focus on the 'attack' on opposition by the now Narendra Modi-led government with the rise of Hindu Rashtra.
Major Western media houses including The Times and Financial Times have been focusing on reporting the 'dark side of upcoming Lok Sabha polls.' The exhaustive reportage of the Western media of India's Lok Sabha polls sheds light on the arrest of AAP ministers and the freezing of Congress bank accounts among other issues.
'Darker side to Modi's popularity'
The Times in its leading article said “Mr Modi is likely to be recognised as probably the most significant Indian leader since independence”, putting his popularity down to spectacular growth, new technology, and welfare policies. “Modi has cultivated the image of a strongman… thumbing his nose at Western liberals and telling Indians their turn in the global spotlight has come. This plays as well with the poor as the rich elites,” it said.
However, the media house continued by claiming that 'there is a darker side to his popularity.' “Modi embraces ‘Hindutva”, playing up a nationalist Hinduism and discriminating against and passing laws that “disadvantage India’s large Muslim minority." The piece also talks about the recent arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by saying that PM Modi was 'intolerant of the opposition.'
'India's last democratic election?'
Edward Luce, associate editor at the FT, asked on X: “Will this be India's last democratic election”, whilst Hannah
