Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata (BJP) party has retained control of India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, according to exit polls. The predicted victory proved that the BJP has maintained its popularity in the politically prominent state, which has been tarnished by religious tensions in recent years.
The BJP also won three other states – Manipur, Goa and Uttarakhand – but lost the Punjab election, according to the results.
The Indian National Congress, the main opposition party in the South Asian country, has once again failed to do well in opinion polls.
With four states in its pocket, Modi’s BJP is in a strong position to win the 2024 national election, analysts say.
Winning a “key state”
The victory in Uttar Pradesh gave Prime Minister Yogi Adityanath a big boost. The controversial Hindu nationalist politician has emerged as a key leader of the BJP in recent years, with some now seeing him as Monti’s successor.
Adityanath’s notable campaign secured his party more than 260 seats in the 403-member state assembly.
The BJP has no real opposition in the country, which means it is likely to do well in national elections, according to Gilles Verniers, a political science professor and co-director of the Trivedi Center for Political Data.
The BJP’s steady performance in the state election surprised some analysts, who believed that rising unemployment, inflation, the agricultural crisis and the government’s handling of the COVID pandemic had left voters disappointed.
The Samajwadi regional party, which has an alliance with Rashtriya Lok Dal, has fought a fierce battle against the BJP, however, trying to exploit the ruling party’s “minority abuse” in Uttar Pradesh. But that was not enough to oust the BJP.
“Adityanath has a good track record in fighting crime and restoring law and order in the state. Development precedes religion, which is why people voted for it,” BJP activist Manisha Dwivedi told DW.
Uttar Pradesh has 80 seats in the Indian Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) with 543 members. The state, along with neighboring Bihar, is vital for any party to form a central government.
All eyes are on the general election
“This tremendous victory in Uttar Pradesh will not only boost the BJP in Lok Saba, but will also strengthen its position in Rajia Saba (upper house of parliament) in the upcoming presidential election,” said Prakas Javadekar, a former minister. BJP.
The BJP wants to further consolidate its popularity and expand its reach across the country. The Hindu nationalist party is now in power, or in alliance with regional parties, in 16 of the 28 states.
“All the myths about BJP have been proven to be true. We have conducted a scientific and well-organized campaign in these states, leveraging our development work and not using caste and religion issues,” BJP Minister Jitendra Singh told DW.
The northern hill state of Uttarakhand was seen as a tough battlefield for the BJP, where the party changed its leaders three times last year in four months.
The only setback to Monty’s party came in the state of Punjab, which was the center of a popular peasant movement last year. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which rules Delhi’s national capital, allied with other opposition parties in the northern state and won the election by a landslide.
The Congress party is in decline
“The AAP has been pushed to the forefront of national politics. This will have an impact on the general election. At the same time, we are seeing the decline of the Congress party,” Sunda Pai, a political analyst, told DW.
The Congress party, which had dominated Indian politics for decades after India’s independence from British rule in 1947, has failed to perform well in state and general elections since 2014. There is now talk of a “renewal” of the party. to stop the BJP big wave.
“It’s a depressing and dark outcome for Congress. It must now bite the ball and challenge its leadership,” Sanjay Jha, a former congressman, told DW.
Elections in five states lasted for more than two months, with the first round of voting starting on February 10th and the final phase ending on March 7th.
The BJP will now look at the polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, which are scheduled for later this year, before turning their attention to the 2024 general elections.
Edited by: Shamil Shams
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