A critical piece.
It is also true that, no matter how horrifying the news from India is, the country remains for many commentators in the West a mostly cuddly democracy and “rising” economic power. A recent article in the New York Review of Books was not untypical in this regard. “In Narendra Modi, India now has dynamic leadership for the first time in many years,” wrote Jessica T. Mathews, the former president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. After nodding briefly to criticism of Modi for restricting civil liberties, Mathews added, offering no evidence whatsoever, that “Modi may be consolidating enough political strength to force through long-needed reforms in New Delhi.”
Needull in a haystack 
A sobering piece. However, am I right in saying that Modi is still very popular? I understand that the BJP recently won by a landslide in Uttar Pradesh.
That’s true. There seems to be no dent in his popularity. There is no strong alternate leader from the opposition