Rs 34 trillion for 74%.

"In a blog on Sunday (yesterday), Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that India's governance model of the last decade has become an example for several countries in the world as the nation managed to lift 25 crore (250 million) people from poverty, saw adoption of innovative practices of good governance, and worked for the welfare of the poorest people without any discrimination." ET. "Analysis outside India on Indian politics tends to focus on democratic backsliding under the Modi government, but this overlooks the fact that Modi remains a democratically elected leader whose hold on power largely reflects the will of the people." Mr Modi's popularity is driven by a "welfare and development-driven agenda" in which, Mr Modi said, "his government has spent more than Rs 34 trillion ($400bn) in the past decade, delivering cash benefits to low-income households and reaching over 900 million people" (BBC), by inaugurating a new Ram Temple in the city of Ayodhya (BBC) as a proof of Hindutva, by a muscular foreign policy when Mr Modi said "No more dossiers to Pak on ultras, India kills them on their home turf" (TOI), and by Mr Modi's personal popularity rating of 74%, the highest in the world (Morning Consult). But, "There are signs of the government pursuing authoritarianism by stealth by employing key levers of power - including the judiciary, media and security services - to mount a witch-hunt against opposition politicians and civil society." Chatham House. Due to concerns over democratic backsliding, "Amid questions surrounding the Election Commission's conduct and the sanctity of the electoral process in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, over 120 civil organisations came together on 21 May to raise concerns about potential 'manipulation' of votes on counting day." The Wire. Not just government agencies, but the Home Office itself has been questioned by Ladakhi innovator and activist Sonam Wangchuk, who said that trolls have accused him of being a CIA agent, taking money from American George Soros and "taking Chinese money and engaging in Chinese propaganda". "But what is intriguing here is how this information, which is in files from 25 years ago - and it couldn't be from us, so from the home ministry's files - has somehow reached the hands of these trolls." The Wire. "Jingoists may sometimes take pride in believing that the outside world is against them; admittedly, enemies give one a sense of outsized importance." But, "If India's institutions are deemed unreliable or politically compromised, it may deter Western investors and businesses from bringing their money into the country." DH. If foreigners are biased, why do they need an army of trolls against citizens? Delusions of grandeur cost $400 billion in handouts. After all, beggars can't be choosers. Can they?