Mainstream WeeklyIndians are generally shy of statistics. No election is won or lost on the basis of figures. But, figures are crowding into the otherwise personalities-based discourse as the country prepares for general elections.
Many of these figures are unflattering, and should worry the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he has just won the mandate to lead his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) into these polls.
For, long after he stormed to power in 2014, only one figure was grandly flaunted: his 56-inch chest size. It encompassed his popularity, oratory, promises of