Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s move to effectively halve food rations to the poor ahead of state polls next year and a general election in 2024 is fiscally sound, but politically much depends on whether the charismatic leader can sell it to voters. Subsidised food and other items are key to winning elections in India, where food aid is a legal right and more than 800 million people received an extra 5 kg of free rice or wheat a month in the last 28 months as COVID-19 ravaged their finances.
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