NEW YORK: India is seeing its freedoms erode under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “increasingly autocratic rule” as “illiberal” rulers are undermining democracy from Poland to the Philippines, according to an opinion piece in an influential American newspaper. Writing in the Washington Post, author and columnist Max Boot targeted Modi, enumerating his high-handed actions and spotlighting some failed policies.
Pointing out that Modi was first elected in 2014 on a promise to boost India’s economic growth, the author said that his “reforms have been a bust”. Far from accelerating growth to 9 percent or 10 percent, it has fallen to 5 percent, the worst performance in six years, Boot wrote under the title ‘Narendra Modi is India’s Trump”, referring to the controversial US president now facing impeachment hearings.
“Modi hasn’t been hurt politically he won reelection in a landslide in May because he has transitioned from an economic to a nationalist message,” and pushing India to become a Hindu theocracy, he said.–Agencies
