Kanpur/New Delhi |When Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched his country’s fastest train in February it seemed to reflect his political persona. It was Indian made, in line with his economic nationalist manufacturing policy, the epitome of an infrastructure boom and a gift to his north Indian Hindu political heartland.

Less than three months later, taking the Vande Bharat Express from New Delhi towards its terminus 750 kilometres away – in Modi’s own electorate – is a journey into the cauldron of the world’s biggest election. The process passed the mid-point of seven rounds of voting last Monday.