Recent state-level elections in India have further consolidated the power of the ruling Hindu nationalist BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“This is for the first time that I am observing on the ground … that the general public does not think the elections are free and fair in India,” says Arfa Khanum Sherwani (@khanumarfa), an Indian journalist and senior editor at The Wire.
The BJP won the crucial border state of West Bengal for the first time, defeating one of Modi's most outspoken opponents, Mamata Banerjee. She has accused the Modi government of using the Election Commission of India to defeat her party by deleting 9 million names from the polls.