of Prime Minister Narendra Modi party East set keep control of India’s most populous state with a big majority, by count on Thursday of a state assembly vote who might offer clues about national mood before a 2024 general election.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition has been leading in about 250 of the 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh, news the channels reported citing count data, while the election commission said the party was early in enough seats to hold on to power.
“Everyone will be surprised by the mandate because we will win with an overwhelming majority,” said Uttar Pradesh BJP spokesman Rakesh Tripathi.
Uttar Pradesh is home about a fifth of India’s 1.35 billion people people and send the most legislators to parliament of any state.
Victory in the northern state came despite the state and federal government’s much-criticized handling of of COVID-19, high unemployment and anger over agricultural reforms reversed by Modi last year after the protests.
The BJP has long predicted that it will retain the state because of policies such as free staples for the poor during the pandemic, a crackdown on crime and its popularity with the Hindu majority reinforced by the construction of a temple on the site of a razed mosque.
In the elections in four smaller states over the past month, the Aam Aadmi party which governs the national capital territory of Delhi is heading for a landslide victory in Punjab, while the races are tight but in to favor of the BJP in Manipur, Goa and Uttarakhand.
Leaders of the Aam Aadmi party said they were ready to take on mod at level national.
It has long been assumed in Indian politics than without winning Uttar Pradesh and the neighboring state of Bihar, no party Where coalition have a lot of hope of secure a majority in parliament. The BJP has been in power in both.
For decades, Uttar Pradesh has been a stronghold of the main opposition congress party but he was unable to stem a slide in her popularity over these last years.
A win in Uttar Pradesh would be a seal of approval for the Hindu monk Yogi Adityanath, who was surprisingly chosen as leader minister for the state five years ago and is considered a future prime ministerial candidate for the BJP.
