Mid Referemdem Of Modi Govt Start

Big test of Note Ban In Five State

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces his biggest electoral test since coming to power when the battleground in five state, In Uttar Pradesh, which he swept three years ago. This election Test starting from Saturday. In the biggest democratic exercise on the planet this year, voting will take place in seven stages over a month to elect a new assemblies to govern the  five state . More broadly, voters will deliver a mid-term verdict on Modi and his nationalist party as India recovers from his boldest decision yet: to abolish 86 percent of the cash in circulation. The banknote ban, launched by Modi three months ago to purge the economy of untaxed income and proceeds of crime and corruption, has disrupted daily life and commerce, and caused the economy to slow.
On the campaign trail, Modi has said he had the interests of the poor at heart in making the move - the biggest gamble of his prime ministership. A strong showing at the polls would strengthen his chances of a second term in 2019. "The results will tell us whether Modi continues to enjoy unquestioned support or if it has started to erode," said R.K. Mishra, an independent political analyst based in the state capital, Lucknow.
Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) polled 42 percent of the vote in Uttar Pradesh in the 2014 general election, sweeping 71 out of 80 seats on its way to claiming India's biggest national mandate in three decades.
Yet voters have shown growing impatience that Modi's campaign promises of development and "better days" to come have failed to deliver new jobs to a state where per capita incomes average less than $750 a year and many communitie ..
People tend to vote along traditional caste and religious lines, and successive governments have exploited communal divisions to fire up their base and poach voters from opponents.