India: Voting begins in Assam and West Bengal state elections

Polls open in two eastern states seen as critical for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.

Voting has begun 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 on Saturday are the first since the farmers launched protests that have been mainly in the north around the capital, New Delhi. It was the first phase of voting in both states and the results will not be known for months.