India’s Narendra Modi goes on hunger strike
Protest is part of showdown between political parties ahead of next year’s national election
Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime Minister, has embarked on a 24-hour hunger strike after his rivals staged a similar protest earlier this week.
Opposition politicians went without food for five hours on Monday during a demonstration in Delhi against the government’s treatment of low caste Indians.
The tit-for-tat protests are part of a “growing showdown” between Modi’s ruling nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) and the Congress party ahead of national elections next year, AFP reports.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Modi has accused the opposition of holding parliament to ransom by frequently disrupting legislative sessions, while Congress says he has done little to improve the lives of ordinary people.
Though the Prime Minister remains popular with voters, his government is facing mounting criticism for failing to boost employment and tackle inequality.
The opposition protest was undermined, however, when photos emerged of senior congress officials tucking into a chickpea curry just before starting their hunger strike, The Times says.
“Once nobly symbolic of India’s struggle for independence, used by Mahatma Gandhi to deplore violence and resist British rule, this week’s hunger strikes have been met with widespread ridicule,” the newspaper says.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The best books of 2024 to give this Christmas
The Week Recommends From Percival Everett to Rachel Clarke these are the critics' favourite books from 2024
By The Week UK Published
-
Parmigianino: The Vision of St Jerome – masterpiece given 'new lease of life'
The Week Recommends 'Spectacularly inventive' painting is back on display at the National Gallery
By The Week UK Published
-
5 unidentifiable cartoons about drones over New Jersey
Cartoons Artists take on national priorities, national security, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Why Assad fell so fast
The Explainer The newly liberated Syria is in an incredibly precarious position, but it's too soon to succumb to defeatist gloom
By The Week UK Published
-
Romania's election rerun
The Explainer Shock result of presidential election has been annulled following allegations of Russian interference
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Russia's shadow war in Europe
Talking Point Steering clear of open conflict, Moscow is slowly ratcheting up the pressure on Nato rivals to see what it can get away with.
By The Week UK Published
-
Cutting cables: the war being waged under the sea
In the Spotlight Two undersea cables were cut in the Baltic sea, sparking concern for the global network
By The Week UK Published
-
The nuclear threat: is Vladimir Putin bluffing?
Talking Point Kremlin's newest ballistic missile has some worried for Nato nations
By The Week UK Published
-
Russia vows retaliation for Ukrainian missile strikes
Speed Read Ukraine's forces have been using U.S.-supplied, long-range ATCMS missiles to hit Russia
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Has the Taliban banned women from speaking?
Today's Big Question 'Rambling' message about 'bizarre' restriction joins series of recent decrees that amount to silencing of Afghanistan's women
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Cuba's energy crisis
The Explainer Already beset by a host of issues, the island nation is struggling with nationwide blackouts
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published