european elections in 26 don't. touch. this is g.w. news live from berlin indian voters get closer to the finish line is the final day of voting in the country's marathon general election the prime minister narendra modi seeking a 2nd term to go to modi's only constituency also coming up. austrian chancers about soundboards calls snap elections this comes after his vice

chancellor quits following the release of a hidden camera video that appears to show him offering government contracts to aid fake russian supporters. i married in evanston it's good to have you with us today is the final day of voting in india's general election is the biggest election in the world with 900000000 eligible voters one of the seats being contested today is the city of daraa nasi holy to hindus where prime minister narendra modi is up for reelection modi is expected to win comfortably bought a controversial development project in the historic temple district has dented his popularity somewhat. amisha travelled to vara nasi and sent us this report.

the holy city of water nazi is a piece of political much for devout hindu and consider the spiritual capital of the country. but now and i connick bought of the temple city is in ruins. close to 300 houses some of which date back to the 17th century have been torn down around kashi which will not stand. devoted to the hindu gods shivah. on the temples are left standing. the demolition is all to make way for the kashi quarter door and ambitious infrastructure project of prime minister no. more the represents wanted to see in parliament. when he was elected by of years ago he promised to modernize the ancient city while preserving its rich cultural heritage bondo michel grew up in the narrow lanes around. he down

a shop here but when a part of the scheme knocking to tell him to get out he petitioned the high court. but after 15 months of fighting he gave up for what he claims is not enough money and the promise of a new shop in the quarter dork. the area around the temple has traditionally been a stronghold for more these be chippy but now bonnie says locals feel that the party is crushing the soul of caution. in the room with what's made the city of shiva the city of modi whatever changes made you want to happening here. it was the city of temples now it's a city of ruins. the prime minister wants to be directed from one of the sea. and the controversy seems to have little impact on his chances. on the campaign trail more these treated like a celebrity. his stop are has been the main draw for the b.g.p.

across the country. modi has said that the wood for the b.g.p. is a vote for him. many locals see no alternative to walking for the prime minister. even the opposition has predicted we candidates are practically giving him a walkover. hindu nationalism has been a bold plan for the b j p and the prime minister is counting on this holy cities indorsement to once again be the country. who filed that report now joins us from say hello to you in russia so as we heard in your report modi is development plans for the city of our n.r.c. are quite unpopular among many locals is this likely to cost him support at the ballot box. well why is the region and plans around the rule be cautious not dampened have brought in criticism it actually looks like it is not going to cause

a loss for the prime minister at all a lot of voters who we have spoken to at this polling booth have said that they are actually quite impressed with the prime minister's leadership on a national level there's also been some improvements to infrastructure in other parts of the city that people are supporting. other than simply supporting him because he's an icon for the be chippy so the question that is being raised here is simply about how large a margin the prime minister's going to win the seat with not about if he's going to win are not so even though the area around the temple was a bastion of b.g.p. support us the ruling party some people told me that they will not cast their vote or they will choose a none of the above option but they're so against the opposition that it is still unlikely for the opposition to meet deans at the cost of prime minister more the. wolverine r.c. is as we've been hearing a sacred hindu city just how important is religion in this election.

but religion has definitely going to play a role in the party in power the b.g.p. did come in on a plank of hindu nationalism even though in 2014 the key agenda was development but there has been a rise of hindu much of majority terrorism across the country that has been a rise of heat speech as well as violence against minorities across the country and for many people they view b.g.p. as a hindu party that supports the hindu cause but of course on officially the region has also propagated an idea of nationalism there were strikes there was a there was a standoff between india and pakistan earlier this year but has actually played in the b j p's favor and that is another factor that's going to favor the b.g.p. heavily and of course they have clearly come out and expressed their support about a controversial temple that is to be built in the state we're actually standing in right now so hindu ism as well as nationalism important for plants for the region be. all right d w is the mission just 12 reporting for us from vajra not saying

thank you very much. to austria now where it's just been announced that snap elections will be held in early september president oleksandr funder belen announced the vote after a corruption scandal brought down chancellor is a bust of course as the far right coalition partner will have more on that from our correspondent in a moment but 1st this report. was. shortly after the vice chancellors resignation thousands of people gathered at the chancellery to express their indignation with the far right freedom party and demand fresh elections and the protesters got what they wanted. chancellor sebastien courts announced the end of his coalition fees saying the populous freedom party had finally gone too far i would often gets to go after yesterday's video i must honestly say that enough is enough. the chancellor asked

president alexander funded beland to call snap elections the president who can just solve parliament backed the move and he had strong words for the alleged corrupt deputy thank you for 2 of the excluder that able to leaders of the republican have broken the trust placed in them this is outrageously disrespectful to the citizens and i cannot tolerate this lack of respect these are those big those who care who live here the. this is the video behind the scandal austria's vice chancellor. caught on tape apparently soliciting campaign funding in return for lucrative government contracts at a meeting in a villa on the spanish island of i beats a straw for thought he was talking to the niece of a russian oligarch in addition to illegal donations they discussed the possibility of her buying a stake in austria as big as tabloid to generate favorable coverage ahead of the 2017 elections but it was

a sting and the video was leaked to the media. all right bob have a zal is following the story for us and she joins us now from vienna so barbara there you are barbara we understand that you were at this press conference where the date or at least the month of these elections was announced what else can you tell us about this press conference there is going to be election in early september as we heard and that is the earliest date that rules in austria make possible because the president of extend the fund to bella who is from the green party and sort of like a moderating figure in the country he emphasized that trust needs to be regained in institutions and that elections just have to be held as soon as possible so that he is early september nothing else that is doable here in austria bought people who have been hoping last night during those demonstrations maybe for

a more thorough cleaning off the stables they are going to be disappointed because it seems that chancellor courts the prime minister's office austria everybody situated here on the boat house in vienna in those fabulous palaces behind us that chance recurrences just going to limb on the freedom party is part of his government that he is not going for a minority government and that he's not going to try something more sort of by courageous not really going to send a signal but that he will just have a change of personnel in his cabinet and they will be just carrying on till september all right so they're going to carry on until september but we will see these new elections coming up after the summer break is it possible that chance or course this own party might be punished then by voters at the polls. we don't know this yet it is difficult to say so far the popularity of cortes has been splendid i

mean he has done a very good job of selling himself as a reformer of austria of course the other parties here the opposition can throw all those big promises back into his face now and say what have you achieved just a may just gamble and made the austria a laughing stock all over europe by by the publishing of these tapes as the corruption and the typical austrian swamp that's been that has been uncovered just one more time this is not the 1st scandal to rock austria in the last decades of a similar sort bought chords is sort of is a very very astute politician he knows how to sell himself he knows how to sort of get on the good side of the public so maybe he won't be punished by the freedom party will be punished largely end it will be a good day for the opposition so the political whether in your in austria is going to change in all likelihood all right barbara vessel in vienna we thank you very

much for that. well thousands of people are taking to the streets across europe in support of the european union the demonstrations like these here in berlin are taking place just a week before the elections to the european parliament organizers hope to get out the vote for pro e.u. parties and to take a stand against populism and the far right. well our correspondent thomas sparrow is at the demonstration and berlin and he joins us now so thomas is quite noisy behind you can you tell us who organized today's rally in berlin and who are the people taking part. about 250 organizations and initiatives coldfield these protests today here in berlin in 7 german cities in 42 european cities the goals are very varied from the organizations that we've seen here you see political parties in particular from the left of the same to left all

to represented also going to is asians that want more to be done against climate change that are in favor of refugees or asylum so a wide variety of organizations and initiatives the general motto here though of this event in bali don't know the cities is your vote for europe and against nationalism so that gives you an idea of what voters here are expecting on what they want from this demonstration only one week before those elections across europe which are being described as absolutely crucial all right thomas so a wide range of organizations but give us a sense of the people around you that you are seeing who've gone out this afternoon on the streets of the german capital what kind of people are they. i've spoke i've spoken to many people here in berlin ahead of this demonstration is just about to start behind where we are and again as i say there are various groups there are those i spoke to a group of grandmothers for example who are who have organized themselves against

the far right parties who want to show their support for younger generations that are also in favor of more action against climate change i've spoken to people who are against the alternative for germany that's the main party the main opposition party in the german parliament and a party described as far right i've spoken to people who want more climate action so again a wide variety of groups and people here what unites them all what unite them most at least is that they're in favor of more europe and they want to make a symbol here sign here against nationalism in europe. thomas sparrow reporting for us in berlin thank you. let's get you a quick reminder of the top story we're following for you. it's the final day of voting in india's weeks long general election internationalists prime minister narendra modi is seeking a 2nd term bond poll suggests his party may lose seats in parliament.

austrians chancers a bus and horse says pull the plug on his governing coalition called snap elections for september after his vice chancellor was forced to resign amid allegations of corruption. you're watching the news coming up next in world stories the weekend reports american f. in spain from me and the entire team here in berlin and thanks for watching. we're not here to judge but to eliminate prejudice and. we're not here to change your opinion. but to open some space for different points of view we're not here to speak on behalf of anybody but to let everybody speak for themselves. we're

not here to give the right answers which are asking the right questions. we're not hearing.