An unreal campaign: How election narrative descended to the level of farce

It is clear that should Modi lose majority for BJP, as pollsters say, or (more drastically) a chance to govern further, it'll be less on the Opposition's account and more on his own, writes T N Ninan

India’s largest, most acrimonious elections are about to get into their final phase. Most people might have expected that voters would be presented these past few weeks with a record of the Narendra Modi government’s term in office, what it promises for the future, and the alternatives that the Opposition offers. The campaign did indeed begin that way, with the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) slogan of “The impossible is now possible” (Namumkin ab mumkin hai), Rahul Gandhi’s Nyay hand-out scheme, and arguments about the relative advantages and disadvantages of strong governments and coalition rule. It turns out though that few