Prices of tomatoes, onions, potatoes, pulses and spices – all the basic ingredients - are soaring as the world’s most populous country heads towards key state polls later this year and national ones soon after. It increases the temptation for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to indulge in some fiscal populism. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsA surge in food prices drove annual retail inflation to 7.44% in July, the most in 15 months. Elections will be held this year in five of India’s 28 states, including heavyweight constituencies Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. India banned the export of non-basmati rice on July 20 to clamp down on rising domestic prices of the grain.

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Persons: Narendra Modi’s, Modi, Nirmala Sitharaman, Una Galani, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, Bharatiya Janata Party, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Madhya, Bloomberg, India’s, IDBI, India’s Ministry of Finance, Reserve Bank, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, Nepal, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, New Delhi, India