A closer look at Uttar Pradesh, Indian PM Modi's political laboratory

FOCUS © FRANCE 24

More than 180 million voters in five Indian states are eligible to vote for new assemblies from this Thursday. The month-long process will be a key test for the ruling BJP of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He wants to keep control of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous, which has been ruled by the BJP for the past five years. Modi also wants to keep using Uttar Pradesh as a political laboratory to implement his "Hindutva" agenda. This ideology defines Indian culture as a set of Hindu values to the detriment of religious minorities, especially Muslims. Our correspondents report.