Why Modi Keeps Winning
Voters in India’s largest state returned the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to power not because of its economic record but because of what it promised its Hindu base.
UP’s hard man of Hindutva.
Photographer: Sanjay Kanojia/AFP/Getty Images
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has cemented its grip on national politics with its excellent showing in state elections, particularly in India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh. The BJP’s stranglehold on power in New Delhi is based on its strength in the north and west of India. UP, as it is called, is the biggest prize in national politics: the equivalent of Texas, Florida and Virginia combined.
UP’s voters had not re-elected a state government for decades. Now, they have given the BJP a second majority in the state assembly, underlining the fact that it is very hard to imagine anyone successfully challenging Modi when elections to the national parliament roll around in 2024. If the BJP sweeps UP’s 80 parliamentary constituencies once again, a third term for Modi is almost assured.