The Modi show Indian PM who wants to be bigger than Gandhi

As the distant rumble of a helicopter drew closer, cheers erupted from the gathered crowds. 

- Hannah Ellis-Petersen

By the time India's prime minister finally stepped out on to the stage, bowing deeply while immaculately dressed in a white kurta and peach waistcoat and with a neatly trimmed beard, the chants had reached a deafening pitch: "MODI, MODI, MODI."

These scenes, at a campaign rally on the outskirts of the Uttar Pradesh town of Meerut have been replicated across the country in recent weeks as Modi and his Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) seek to win a third term in India's election, which began yesterday and goes on for six weeks.

Pundits and polls have resoundingly predicted that Modi will be brought back to power when results are counted on 4 June.

"He casts a certain messianic spell on his voters," said Dwaipayan Bhattacharyya, a professor of political science at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi. "It's this combination of political power and perceived divinity in his persona which enables the BJP to project him as the one beyond scrutiny." There is little doubt among Indians that Modi's 10 years in power have left an indelible mark on the country. To some it is the optimistic story of India becoming the fastest-growing economy, courted by western leaders and multinationals; of efficient governance and technological advancements that have benefited the public; and of the country freeing itself from the politics of elites and the "chains of colonisers" while reclaiming its Hindu civilisational greatness.

Yet to others it is a story of democratic backsliding and growing authoritarianism; of crony capitalism and a growing chasm between rich and poor; of the erosion of freedom of the media and judicial independence; attacks on secularism, liberal institutions and civil society; of publicly condoned Islamophobia and growing state-sponsored persecution of minorities, primarily India's 200 million Muslims.