India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has scored a major victory in key assembly elections in the country’s two northern and western states, boosting the prime minister’s popularity.
According to official results released on Sunday, the BJP won the majority of the votes in Haryana State and took most of the assembly seats in the state of Maharashtra.
Both states had previously been ruled by the rival Congress Party, which was defeated in the national elections back in May.
The latest electoral victories are widely regarded as a confirmation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity five months after he rose to power as the country’s top executive. The victory in the recent state elections will likely facilitate Modi’s efforts to push through his promised economic reform plans.
The development comes as Modi’s administration, with an apparent concern over impacting the state elections, has put off unpopular policy making decisions on hiking the price of natural gas and ending a price cap on diesel fuel.
While media outlets across India have widely described the success of the ruling BJP in the two key states as a sign of Modi’s “unabated popularity,” they also warn that he must deliver on his campaign pledge of change.
Meanwhile, India’s prominent Business Standard also strikes a cautionary note, writing on Monday that negotiations on government formation in Maharashtra will be “closely watched, including by investors.”
It further explains that, Mumbai and coastal Maharashtra are the engines of Indian growth far more than any other part of the country.
