evidence: Modi became India’s prime minister in 2014 after a series of corruption scandals disillusioned voters toward the incumbent coalition and its once-dominant Congress Party. He appealed to voters on a pro-business platform, promising "minimum government and maximum governance" and claiming that he would slash India’s mountainous regulatory state, reduce corruption, and increase business opportunities, as he was credited with having done while chief minister of Gujarat State. His charisma and business-first platform gained him the first outright parliamentary majority any Indian leader had enjoyed in thirty years. Modi’s second election, five years later in 2019, gave him an even greater win; the election also marked a sharp increase in his polarization of the country and illiberal governance. While most populists pump their economy’s growth and end up with high inflation and debt, a series of poor policy choices meant that under Modi, high growth reversed after two years. Below-potential growth tamed his predecessor’s inflation, until the war in Ukraine sent it upward again. But Modi’s policy mismanagement has caused millions of small businesses to close, and slow job growth, combined with low labor force participation, have sent nearly a third of India’s new middle class back into poverty.234 [...] 50 "Focus on Love Jihad, Not Small Issues Like Roads, Drains: BJP Karnataka Chief to Party Workers," The Wire, January 4, 2023, https://thewire.in/communalism/focus-on-love-jihad-not-small-issues-like-roads-drains-bjp-karnataka-chief-to-party-workers.