Analysis-Modi's popularity key to selling cut in food aid ahead of Indian elections

FILE PHOTO: India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi walks after the handover ceremony during the G20 Leaders' Summit, in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, November 16, 2022. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/Pool

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's move to effectively halve food rations to the poor ahead of state polls next year and a general election in 2024 is fiscally sound, but politically much depends on whether the charismatic leader can sell it to voters.

Subsidised food and other items are key to winning elections in India, where food aid is a legal right and more than 800 million people received an extra 5 kgs of free rice or wheat in the last 28 months as COVID-19 ravaged their finances.