Setback for Modi with key India state poll loss
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi s Hindu-nationalist party suffered a setback Sunday when it lost a tightly contested and violence-hit state poll.
India held its biggest democratic exercise in two years over the past month, with 175 million people eligible to vote in five regional elections.
But the marathon polls involved huge rallies where many attendees were maskless, and a record-breaking coronavirus spike coincided with the final phases of voting.
Setback For Modi After Loss In Key India State Poll By Sailendra Sil
05/02/21 AT 3:14 PM
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi s Hindu-nationalist party suffered a setback Sunday when it lost a fiercely contested state poll.
Over the past month India held its biggest democratic exercise in two years, with 175 million people eligible to vote in five regional elections.
But the marathon polls involved huge rallies where many attendees were maskless, and a record-breaking coronavirus spike coincided with the final phases of voting.
Experts blame complacency about the pandemic, as well as religious festivals attended by millions of devotees and political rallies, for the virus crisis.
Narendra Modi s ruling party loses crucial Indian state election sbs.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sbs.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Although women spend nearly six hours a day on unpaid domestic work compared with less than an hour for men, their contribution at home isnt recorded in Indias national income.
As India battles the world’s worst virus outbreak, some key political parties are promising an unprecedented monthly payment to all homemakers in a bid to win crucial state elections. If enacted the stipends would be some of the first in the world to specifically address women’s unpaid labor, which economists estimate accounts for up to 39% of global GDP and is often absent from official statistics. They would also represent a major cultural shakeup in a nation where women are overwhelmed with domestic duties and their participation in the workforce is among the lowest on the planet a predicament exacerbated by Covid-19.