Modi’s Sweep in Key State Puts Spotlight on Voter Roll Purge
Voters queue up to cast their votes outside a polling station during the West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections on April 23.
Photographer: AFP/Getty Images
A landslide win by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party in a key state election this week has sparked debate over whether controversial changes to voter rolls helped secure the surprise result.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party won 207 seats in the 294-member legislature in West Bengal, ending the 15-year rule of the All India Trinamool Congress, or TMC, which was reduced to 80 seats. Although most exit polls predicted the BJP would oust the incumbent, the surveys had pointed to a much closer contest.