Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's helicopter touched down at noon on Nov. 27 on a dusty field on the outskirts of the town of Alwar, 160 km north of Jaipur, the pink sandstone city that is the capital of the state of Rajasthan.
It was Modi's first election rally in the state, one of five states holding local elections and perhaps the most important. His speech was standard election fare. He attacked the entitled leadership of the opposition Congress party and the Gandhi family that controls it and stressed the achievements of the BJP, his party, which has been in power in Rajasthan for the last five years.