India begins voting in 2 states in key test for Modi

Voting began in Assam and West Bengal in state elections that will show how support for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is holding up following a coronavirus-stricken year, and months of protests by farmers against his agricultural reforms.

Re-elected for a second five-year term in 2019, Modi’s grip on power is under no threat, but the elections in the two eastern states are the first since the farmers launched protests that have been mainly in the north, around the capital Delhi.

Hindu nationalist agenda is being challenged by monthslong farmer protests and a fresh wave of the pandemic.

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