Modi Surges to Power in India’s Most Crucial State Election
- BJP victory boost for Modi’s second-term ambitions in 2019
- Opposition remains in disarray ahead of national elections
Supporters of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Indian National Congress (INC) party wave flags featuring the parties' emblems at a state election rally in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, on Monday, Feb. 13, 2017. The success of the Samajwadi government's infrastructure projects has allowed them to hijack Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mantra of development. Now it’s possible the Bharatiya Janata Party could lose India’s most important state election, that began on Feb. 11., endangering further economic reforms and sapping Modi’s momentum ahead of the 2019 national elections.
Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/BloombergPrime Minister Narendra Modi has swept to victory in a key state election with a resounding win that will allow his Bharatiya Janata Party to push forward with its economic reform agenda and enter the national polls in 2019 as favorites.
Modi’s BJP has won 227 seats in Uttar Pradesh’s 403-member assembly, according to the Election Commission of India, beating the incumbent Samajwadi Party and its coalition ally, the Congress Party, in the most politically important of five elections being called today. It is also leading in 82 other seats.