India begins voting in two eastern states in key test for Modi

A paramilitary personnel distributes facemasks to voters standing in queue to cast their ballots outside a polling station during Phase 1 of West Bengal's legislative election in Purulia district

Voting began in Assam and West Bengal on Saturday 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. It was the first phase of voting in both states, and the results won't be known for months. For all the concerns over the coronavirus, politicians out on the campaign trail often showed scant regard for social distancing, but as people waited in long queues outside polling centres in West Bengal on Saturday, security personnel and election workers handed out masks, sanitizers and gloves.