New Delhi, India – On a sweltering afternoon, hundreds of men and women gathered in an open area, bigger than a football stadium, near the Yamuna river in northeast Delhi.
As the crowd grew, the place erupted into a dome of dust. People covered their faces with cotton towels and stoles, as they headed towards a makeshift tent passing through layers of security checks. They were there to see India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking a third term in the ongoing general elections, who would soon address a public gathering.
