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KOLKATA, India (Reuters) - Voting began in Assam and West Bengal on Saturday in state elections that will show how support for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is holding up following a coronavirus-stricken year, and months of protests by farmers against his agricultural reforms. Re-elected for a second five-year term in 2019, Modi's grip on power is under no threat, but the elections in the two eastern states are the first since the farmers launched protests that have been mainly in the north, around the capital Delhi. It was the first phase of voting in both states, and the results won't be known for months. For all the concerns over the coronavirus, politicians out on the campaign trail often showed scant regard for social distancing, but as people waited in long queues outside polling centres in West Bengal on Saturday, security personnel and election workers handed out masks, sanitizers and gloves. Modi and his home minister Amit Shah campaigned aggressively for ... » Learn More about India begins voting in two eastern states in key test for Modi

The election in West Bengal is the most important with the BJP pushing hard to win power KOLKATA - One person was killed and a candidate's car attacked Saturday as India's worst hotbed of political violence West Bengal held elections, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking to unseat one of his fiercest opponents. Victory in the eastern region of 90 million would be a major achievement for Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party as it looks to expand further its power base beyond its Hindi-speaking northern heartlands. But in a state where thousands have died since the 1960s, fresh incidents of violence were reported with police saying that a mob attacked the vehicle of a communist party candidate in one district. The president of the BJP in the state Dilip Ghosh said that one of its supporters were killed by members of the ruling Trinamool Congress party in the same area in the early hours. "His body was found in the compound of his mud hut," he said. Because of ... » Learn More about One dead as restive Indian state votes

Indian police have arrested 514 people for deadly Hindu-Muslim violence that broke out in the capital, the government said, as it faced mounting international criticism for failing to protect minority Muslims. Police said the toll from days of blood-letting stood at 35, but local media, citing unnamed sources, said it was likely to be more than 40 as the full extent of the violence that began on Sunday in a densely-packed locality in northeastern Delhi becomes clear. Police are still searching drains and homes that were burnt down for bodies, officers said. More forces had been deployed at mosques in the area for the weekly Friday prayers, the government said. There had been no new violence since Wednesday morning, it said in a statement late on Thursday. The violence began over a citizenship law that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government introduced in December providing a path to Indian citizenship for six religious groups from neighbouring countries, but ... » Learn More about Indian police arrest over 500 for Delhi sectarian violence

Hi all, In today's bulletin: Ousted Myanmar Parliament plans national unity government ; Calls for Asean to hold Special Summit ; Japan on brink of fourth Covid-19 wave despite several measures; Two dead in fierce state election fight between Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party and West Bengal Chief Minister; Hong Kong’s ' Father of Democracy' Martin Lee, media tycoon Jimmy Lai guilty over protests, and more. Reading this on the web or know someone who might enjoy receiving Asian Insider? Our sign-up page is here . Ousted Myanmar Parliament plans national unity government The ousted leaders of Myanmar's Parliament, many of them allies of detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, plan to set up a national unity government in the first week of April. A statement issued by them states that the new government will be a coalition of all democratic forces under the terms of the Federal Democracy Charter and a collective leadership. And that caretaker ... » Learn More about Asian Insider, April 1: Two governments in Myanmar? Japan on brink of fourth Covid-19 wave