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Modi's wins show how the power of his personal story endures
The mismatch between the BJP's entrepreneurial drive and the elite entitlement of Congress is as glaring now as ever
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Ruchir Sharma
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After years of decline, India was demoted last year into the ranks of "partly free" democracies by Freedom House, which cited the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) increasingly harsh handling of both its critics and the country's Muslim minority.
Now, the perception that India leads a global "retreat" of democracy is likely to deepen as the BJP bulldozed its way to victory in this month's elections in four of five contested states, including India's most populous, Uttar Pradesh.
