The recent controversy erupted when Pakistani politician Fawad Chaudhry, a minister under former prime minister Imran Khan's government, in the midst of the ongoing election in India posted on social media X a video of a speech by Gandhi - where he criticised Modi for not focusing on uplifting the poor - saying "Rahul on fire".

Even foreign policy was anticipated to influence the ballot, with the publicity boost afforded by Mr Modi's hosting of the G20 summit last September. Opinion polls have predicted a third, record-equalling landslide win for his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In recent campaign rallies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called Muslims “infiltrators” and said they “have too many children,” referring to a Hindu nationalist trope

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and election rival Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi traded barbs about campaign funding on Wednesday, with both sides accusing the other of taking money from top industrialists Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani.

Police in southern India are investigating a senior leader of the country’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over a campaign video targeting Muslims, as critics accuse Prime Minister Narendra Modi of running an increasingly divisive election.

Indian prime minister, who in recent rallies referred to Muslims as ‘infiltrators’, asked them to think about their future growth