TIME(@TIME):"One can presume that when Modi first watched hundreds of disaffected young people, describing themselves as cockroaches, trickle into Jantar Mantar, a traditional site of protest in New Delhi, the 75-year-old strongman would have felt fairly confident of squashing them like bugs," writes Asim Ali. "The reality turned out to be wholly different."

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TIME@TIME

2026.08.01 12:36

"One can presume that when Modi first watched hundreds of disaffected young people, describing themselves as cockroaches, trickle into Jantar Mantar, a traditional site of protest in New Delhi, the 75-year-old strongman would have felt fairly confident of squashing them like bugs," writes Asim Ali. "The reality turned out to be wholly different."