Elections in India
NEW DELHI — India’s ruling Hindu nationalist party won landslide victories in results announced Saturday from key state legislative elections that are seen as a referendum on the performance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s nearly 3-year-old government.
Leaders from Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party said the party’s victory in Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest state, would boost Modi’s chances of winning another term as India’s prime minister in 2019 elections.
The Election Commission said the Bharatiya Janata Party won 311 out of 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh’s legislature.
The party’s president, Amit Shah, described it as “a historic verdict.”
In another northern state, Uttarakhand, the ruling party won 56 of 70 seats and was leading in one other constituency, wresting power from the Congress party, the main opposition at the national level. The Congress party lost power by winning only 11 seats.
The elections were held in five states in February and early March, but the votes were not tallied until Saturday.
“Am overjoyed that BJP has received unprecedented support from all sections of society. Huge support from the youth is gladdening,” Modi tweeted, using an acronym to refer to the ruling party.
The Congress party captured 77 of 117 seats in Punjab state, unseating the governing alliance of the Bharatiya Janata Party and an influential regional group, the Akali Dal.
Both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress party failed to win a majority of seats in western Goa state and northeastern Manipur state, according to the Election Commission. The Congress party was ahead in the two states. The parties will seek the support of regional groups to stitch governing alliances.
Rahul Gandhi, the Congress party vice president, seemed to have failed to make any impact for his party in Uttar Pradesh, in the Hindi heartland, with his party winning five seats and leading in another two constituencies. The party’s ally, the Samajwadi Party, had won 33 seats and was leading in 16 other voting districts.
Sandeep Dikshit, a Congress party leader, said “it will be unfair to blame the party’s debacle entirely on Rahul Gandhi.”
Modi had campaigned extensively in the region for his party’s nominees.
“The [Bharatiya Janata Party] has reached new heights in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh states and changed the political picture of the country,” India’s home minister, Rajnath Singh, said in New Delhi. The party will be returning to power in Uttar Pradesh after 14 years.
Kapil Sibal, a senior Congress party leader, conceded that “No doubt, it’s an astounding victory for the [Bharatiya Janata Party].”