Modi's BJP routs opposition in key election in India
The victories in three of the five states that voted in November further boost right-wing BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and Modi, who is already the favourite to win his third consecutive term in office next year.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party routed the main opposition in key heartland states/ Photo: Reuters
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party routed the main opposition in key heartland states as votes were counted months before national elections in India, one of the world's most populous countries.
The premier's party wrested control of Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan states from the opposition and retained Madhya Pradesh in a landslide despite a spirited challenge.
Setback for Congress
The results are seen as yet another setback for the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty scion Rahul Gandhi, 53, who led the opposition centre-left Indian National Congress party's aggressive and personal campaign directly targeting Modi.
Gandhi's father, grandmother, and great-grandfather were prime ministers and political stalwarts who dominated the Indian political landscape for decades.
India's once dominant political force, the Congress party, lost the last two successive national elections in 2014 and 2019 in historic defeats to Modi and the BJP.
The Congress defeated the regional BRS (Bharat Rashtra Samithi) party in the southern state of Telangana while votes in the small northeast Indian state of Mizoram will be counted on Monday.
Modi, who remains widely popular in his tenth year in office, flew across all poll-bound states in October and November to address tens of thousands of people in packed campaign rallies.
With the final votes still being counted, India's election commission Sunday evening said that the BJP had won or was leading in 163 of Madhya Pradesh's 230 state assembly seats.
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