Elections indicator of Modi’s footing

NEW DELHI — Two Indian states with sizeable Muslim populations began voting in local elections Saturday in a test of strength for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose Hindu nationalist agenda is being challenged by months of farmer protests and a fresh wave of the pandemic.

Top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including Modi, have campaigned heavily to win West Bengal for the first time and dislodge the state’s chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, and keep power in northeastern Assam state.

The BJP has been accused of stoking religious polarization and discriminating against minorities, and faces challenges in both states with populations that are nearly 30 percent Muslim. Nationwide, Muslims constitute nearly 14 percent of the 1.4 billion people, and Hindus make up 80 percent.

“The BJP’s success depends on if it is able to polarize Hindu votes to a huge extent and get half of the 70 percent of Hindu votes,” said Subir Bhowmik, a political analyst.

The elections are seen as crucial for the BJP to gain a foothold in the northeast and south.

The vote comes as tens of thousands of farmers have rattled Modi’s government with protests on the fringes of the capital, New Delhi. And India’s economy is still struggling to emerge out of the coronavirus crisis.

Thousands of paramilitary soldiers and local police were guarding voting stations to prevent clashes between rival supporters.

Manmohan Singh, a former prime minister and an opposition Congress party leader, criticized the BJP’s Hindu nationalism, saying that society was being divided on the basis of religion, culture and language.

“The basic rights of the common man are being denied, and there is an atmosphere of tension and fear,” Sing said.

In West Bengal, rival groups have attacked each other with sticks and rocks and set vehicles on fire during campaigning. Images of a fiery Banerjee, who has been addressing crowds from a wheelchair after a leg injury, have set the tone for a tough battle.

Banerjee heads a regional party, the All India Trinamool Congress, which came to power 10 years ago years after unseating more than three decades of Communist Party rule.

On Saturday, Banerjee objected to Modi visiting a Matua Hindu community leader’s temple during his visit to Bangladesh, where he is participating in the country’s 50th anniversary of independence.

Banerjee accused him of trying to influence the voting by the Matua community in West Bengal state, where the members make up nearly 10 million of 70 million voters.

Kailash Vijayvargia, a BJP leader, rejected Banerjee’s criticism and said she was rattled by the popularity of the BJP party in the state.

In West Bengal and Assam, the BJP is banking on its Hindu nationalist ideology.

The party is trying to galvanize Hindu support by promising to deport hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi Muslims who fled their homes decades ago.