“People here will never vote for Narendra Modi, he can never win in South India,” said Mohammad Sarfaraz, a resident of Hyderabad, the joint capital of India's southern states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. "All he knows is to divide Hindus and Muslims."
The 55-year-old rickshaw driver was expressing his views on Mr Modi’s efforts to make inroads in the region that has historically rejected his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
“People want peace. Government must offer peace and not indulge in politics of religion,” Mr Sarfaraz told The National.
As India undertakes the world’s largest elections, Mr Modi has been on whirlwind rallies in the country’s south.
India’s southern region is made up of five states - Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The states have a combined population of 253 million people, as per the last census. They send 131 parliamentarians out of the total 543 to the Lok Sabha, or the lower house of parliament.
Mr Modi has confidently predicted that his ruling BJP will win 400 seats in a historic landslide. If his prediction comes true, it would be only the second time that a party won more than 400 seats, after the Indian National Congress - the main opposition to the BJP since 2014 - won 404 seats in 1984.
But Mr Modi's goal relies on winning a significant number of seats in the southern states, away from the BJP's heartland in northern and Central India.
The south of India has a strong regional identity, with its own history, culture, and languages, and provides a different challenge for the BJP.
‘Politics of religion’
Mr Modi, who first came to power in 2014 and won again with an even bigger mandate in 2019, has his core base in Hindi-speaking economically poorer north India and Central India.
The BJP has used religious sentiments to consolidate its Hindi-speaking Hindu vote bank in a region rife with religious and caste fault lines.
But in the south, the BJP performed dismally in 2019. It won just 30 seats across all five southern states.
In the southernmost Tamil Nadu, a crucial state with 39 seats, the BJP failed to win even a single seat.
For his 2024 campaign, Mr Modi has made ten trips to Tamil Nadu. He has also used AI to translate his speeches from Hindi to the regional Tamil language.
But experts predict Mr Modi will still struggle to make inroads in the state, due to his government’s divisive politics based on religion.
In the last ten-year rule, the prime minister has espoused the cause of Hindutva or Hindu hegemony agenda.
The BJP government has banned beef, popular in Kerala, and objected to students wearing hijab in Karnataka.
Mr Modi has been accused of continuing to exploit religious tensions during his campaign, most recently when he described Muslims as "infiltrators".
While polarisation has worked in the Hindi heartland, in South India it has been less effective.
The multi-religious region is home to Hindus, Christians, and Muslims who have been living in relatively harmony for centuries.
Unlike in northern India, where Muslims arrived in invading armies, Islam made its way to coastal southern India through Arab merchants and traders in the 7th century.
Despite being a deeply religious region, with some of India's largest Hindu temples and the country’s oldest mosque, most southern Indians consider themselves part of a united Dravidian race and not divided along religious lines.
“BJP has a huge challenge. One of the reasons is that these are not the states with Hindutva-driven politics. There is no space for BJP’s ideology," V Narayanan, a Chennai-based political analyst, told The National.
"The factors which helped it in the north like religion, are not the issues here.
“The equation between the minorities, particularly Muslims and Hindus is far different here…they speak the local language and there is no big cultural divide,” he said.
Development politics
The five southern states contribute more than 30 per cent of India's GDP and are collectively more prosperous than the northern states.
They have a higher literacy rate, higher per capita income, better health, and higher living standards.
Leftist-ruled Kerala, for instance, has the highest literacy in all of India, at 94 per cent. It had the lowest infant mortality rate at six per 1,000 in 2020 - better than some states in the US.
Tamil Nadu has the fourth lowest poverty rate with 4.8 per cent, whereas Karnataka’s unemployment rate was at 2.4 per cent - compared to the national average rate of 8 per cent in January.
In stark contrast, north India, while politically influential, is marred by high rates of unemployment, poverty, and scores poorly on health indexes.
India's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, has an infant mortality rate of 38 per 1,000 births in 2020. The BJP-ruled state is seen as vital electorally, as it sends 80 parliamentarians to the Lok Sabha.
Bihar, another politically significant electoral state, had 33.7 per cent people living in poverty in 2023.
In Mr Modi’s home state of Gujarat, 11.66 per cent of people lived in multidimensional poverty in 2023, according to government think tank Niti Ayog.
Regional parties
The BJP must also take on popular regional parties with long histories of success in the south.
In Tamil Nadu, the ruling DMK has been in politics since 1949, and won 38 seats in 2019. In Andhra Pradesh, the state's ruling YSR Congress had won 22 out of 25 seats in 2019 elections.
Kerala has one of the oldest parties, the ruling Communist Party of India that was formed in 1964. There is also Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh formed in 1982.
The political analyst, Mr Narayanan, said that local parties tend to better understand the issues of in the region.
While the BJP has accused the DMK of corruption, Narayanan says that they have not been seen as a deal-breaker for elections in the south.
“South is not a traditional BJP bastion and different parties have been ruling and winning, some for more than 50 years. Corruption is the plank of which BJP but for Tamils, it is not an issue,” Mr Narayanan said.
“There is a huge level of corruption but at the same time, Tamil Nadu has also developed on the Human Development Index. People think it is inevitable for parties not to be corrupt and don’t mind as long as they are given an easy life to grow."
Tributes from the UAE's personal finance community
• Sebastien Aguilar, who heads SimplyFI.org, a non-profit community where people learn to invest Bogleheads’ style
“It is thanks to Jack Bogle’s work that this community exists and thanks to his work that many investors now get the full benefits of long term, buy and hold stock market investing.
Compared to the industry, investing using the common sense approach of a Boglehead saves a lot in costs and guarantees higher returns than the average actively managed fund over the long term.
From a personal perspective, learning how to invest using Bogle’s approach was a turning point in my life. I quickly realised there was no point chasing returns and paying expensive advisers or platforms. Once money is taken care off, you can work on what truly matters, such as family, relationships or other projects. I owe Jack Bogle for that.”
• Sam Instone, director of financial advisory firm AES International
"Thought to have saved investors over a trillion dollars, Jack Bogle’s ideas truly changed the way the world invests. Shaped by his own personal experiences, his philosophy and basic rules for investors challenged the status quo of a self-interested global industry and eventually prevailed. Loathed by many big companies and commission-driven salespeople, he has transformed the way well-informed investors and professional advisers make decisions."
• Demos Kyprianou, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"Jack Bogle for me was a rebel, a revolutionary who changed the industry and gave the little guy like me, a chance. He was also a mentor who inspired me to take the leap and take control of my own finances."
• Steve Cronin, founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com
"Obsessed with reducing fees, Jack Bogle structured Vanguard to be owned by its clients – that way the priority would be fee minimisation for clients rather than profit maximisation for the company.
His real gift to us has been the ability to invest in the stock market (buy and hold for the long term) rather than be forced to speculate (try to make profits in the shorter term) or even worse have others speculate on our behalf.
Bogle has given countless investors the ability to get on with their life while growing their wealth in the background as fast as possible. The Financial Independence movement would barely exist without this."
• Zach Holz, who blogs about financial independence at The Happiest Teacher
"Jack Bogle was one of the greatest forces for wealth democratisation the world has ever seen. He allowed people a way to be free from the parasitical "financial advisers" whose only real concern are the fat fees they get from selling you over-complicated "products" that have caused millions of people all around the world real harm.”
• Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"In an industry that’s synonymous with greed, Jack Bogle was a lone wolf, swimming against the tide. When others were incentivised to enrich themselves, he stood by the ‘fiduciary’ standard – something that is badly needed in the financial industry of the UAE."
HWJN
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GULF MEN'S LEAGUE
Pool A Dubai Hurricanes, Bahrain, Dubai Exiles, Dubai Tigers 2
Pool B Abu Dhabi Harlequins, Jebel Ali Dragons, Dubai Knights Eagles, Dubai Tigers
Opening fixtures
Thursday, December 5
6.40pm, Pitch 8, Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Dubai Knights Eagles
7pm, Pitch 2, Jebel Ali Dragons v Dubai Tigers
7pm, Pitch 4, Dubai Hurricanes v Dubai Exiles
7pm, Pitch 5, Bahrain v Dubai Eagles 2
Recent winners
2018 Dubai Hurricanes
2017 Dubai Exiles
2016 Abu Dhabi Harlequins
2015 Abu Dhabi Harlequins
2014 Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Fight card
Preliminaries:
Nouredine Samir (UAE) v Sheroz Kholmirzav (UZB); Lucas Porst (SWE) v Ellis Barboza (GBR); Mouhmad Amine Alharar (MAR) v Mohammed Mardi (UAE); Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) v Spyro Besiri (GRE); Aslamjan Ortikov (UZB) v Joshua Ridgwell (GBR)
Main card:
Carlos Prates (BRA) v Dmitry Valent (BLR); Bobirjon Tagiev (UZB) v Valentin Thibaut (FRA); Arthur Meyer (FRA) v Hicham Moujtahid (BEL); Ines Es Salehy (BEL) v Myriame Djedidi (FRA); Craig Coakley (IRE) v Deniz Demirkapu (TUR); Artem Avanesov (ARM) v Badreddine Attif (MAR); Abdulvosid Buranov (RUS) v Akram Hamidi (FRA)
Title card:
Intercontinental Lightweight: Ilyass Habibali (UAE) v Angel Marquez (ESP)
Intercontinental Middleweight: Amine El Moatassime (UAE) v Francesco Iadanza (ITA)
Asian Featherweight: Zakaria El Jamari (UAE) v Phillip Delarmino (PHI)
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.