Five years ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi¡¯s party won big in India¡¯s most-populous state thanks in part to low-status voters who endorsed his economic vision. Now they¡¯re showing signs of looking elsewhere.
Soaring prices, joblessness and health complications from a vicious wave of delta-fueled COVID-19 infections last summer are high on the minds of voters in Uttar Pradesh, the most crucial of five states that will reveal election results this week. Moreover, Modi¡¯s Hindu-dominant Bharatiya Janata Party is pushing away some Muslims and voters from disadvantaged castes who once embraced him.
¡°Wages are coming down while inflation is rising ¡ª it¡¯s becoming difficult to run the family and pay school fees,¡± Imtiyaz Ahmad, a 42-year-old Muslim who previously voted for Modi¡¯s BJP, said in the swing district of Tanda while working long hours in the city¡¯s textile factories to make extra cash. ¡°We will vote for a change.¡±
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