India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh is voting in the first of a series of local elections that will be key in testing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity, reports Reuters.

Uttar Pradesh has a population nearly as big as Brazil and winning this state would give a major boost to Modi's ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The party has been facing criticism for high unemployment in the nation and their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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