A social media account for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on a party worker’s smartphone in the village of Gauriganj, India, May 15, 2024. India’s welfare programs improve lives, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party uses its vast machinery to ensure the handouts also create loyal voters. — The New York Times
AMETHI, India: Durga Prasad, an 80-year-old farmer, was resting under the shade of a tree in front of his home when the party workers came. An app on their smartphones could tell them in an instant who Prasad was, whom he might vote for – and why he should be grateful to India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi.
“You get installments of 2,000 rupees (RM113), right?” asked a local official from Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP. Prasad concurred. He receives US$72 (RM338) a year through a farmers’ welfare programmeme started and branded by Modi.
