British papers say Bihar defeat to impact Modi UK visit

Narendra Modi had led his party's election campaign in Bihar elections

British newspapers feel the electoral debacle for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP party in the regional elections in Bihar state will have a sobering effect on his "high-profile" visit to the UK.

Mr Modi is to start his first visit to Britain on Thursday.

In 2012, the country ended a decade-long diplomatic boycott imposed on the leader over the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Mr Modi's visit comes at a time when his Bharatiya Janata Party has suffered a massive defeat in Bihar amid concerns over growing religious intolerance in India.

British dailies say Mr Modi will carry the baggage of these developments to London.

The Financial Times describes the Indian prime minister as a "charismatic international statesman" but emphasises that his next foreign visit "will for the first time be overshadowed by deepening troubles at home".

Mr Modi's government has been criticised in recent weeks for the environment of intolerance in India

The paper highlights examples of prominent voices such as Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan and the federal bank governor Raghuram Rajan criticising the environment of intolerance in India.

"Such people are heard in New York and London as well as Mumbai, which could make Mr Modi's hitherto triumphant foreign trips less comfortable in the future," it says.

The Independent says Mr Modi has suffered an "embarrassing setback" ahead of his "high-profile visit".

"The result means that as he prepares for an enthusiastic welcome in Britain this week… Mr Modi will be smarting from the defeat on home soil, which comes as his administration also faces mounting accusations of fomenting intolerance," the paper says.

Mr Modi will arrive in the UK with his "standing weakened after his party was comfortably defeated" in the Bihar elections, writes The Telegraph.

The Guardian calls the prime minister "the divisive manipulator who charmed the world".

"While Modi makes a triumphant visit to the UK after more than a year as India's prime minister… One can only hope that the barefaced viciousness of Hindu supremacists will jolt the old elites out of their shattered dogmas and pieties while politicising a cheated young generation," it says.

However, The Economist quips that the visit will bring Mr Modi "relief" and "distraction from his stinging defeat" in Bihar.

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