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If you've been following the India reportage in western media over the past year, you would expect the BJP to be in a vulnerable position following the "nation-wide, grassroots" protests against the "fascist" CAA, alleged mismanagement of pandemic, etc https://www.livemint.com/elections/assembly-elections/how-the-bjp-took-the-lead-in-the-battle-for-bihar-in-four-charts-11605013998829.html
But assembly elections in Bihar (pop ~100m, and home to the bulk of migrant workers) just wrapped and the verdict was clear: The BJP/Modi are as popular as ever. A timely reminder that self-proclaimed "South Asia" experts are selling you a mental model of a country and a people.
And like any other model, you can test it against the available data to see if it fits. Spoiler alert: it does not. So as you see the divergence between the model and data grow, you are left with two choices:
1) Admit that Princeton Grad Priya who minored in South Asian Studies and contributes to Vice is full of shit and should be ignored or 2) accept the prevailing model and draw the inference from the divergence that the average Indian is an irredeemable extremist.
The commentariat will never concede that they are clueless, so they will guide you towards Option 2 like Captain Marlow down the River Congo. If you're interested in actually understanding, ignore them. India is a place; South Asia is a fantasy.
