After electoral setback, Modi may be forced to amend India's food policy

FILE PHOTO: Farm labourers, with their faces covered for protection from heat, work on a paddy field on a hot summer day in Karnal in the northern state of Haryana, India, June 3, 2024. REUTERS/Bhawika Chhabra/File Photo

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing a policy conundrum after losing ground in the recent election: how to control food inflation without resorting to export curbs and more imports - steps that have angered farmers, a sizeable voting bloc.

While Modi managed to retain power in a coalition government, his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) faces provincial elections later this year in two key agricultural states - Haryana and Maharashtra - that have strong farm lobbies.