India’s ruling Hindu nationalist party has suffered a resounding defeat in state elections, boosting the opposition before national elections next year.
Official results show Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) losing the three key states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, with the opposition center-left Congress emerging as the single largest party in each.
Modi acknowledged defeat, saying in a tweet that “We accept the people’s mandate with humility.” It was the BJP’s first major setback in state elections since it stormed to power nationally in 2014.
Congress, which had ruled India for most of the time since independence from Britain in 1947, was relishing an unexpectedly sizeable boost before a general election which must be held by next May. Results were still coming in but it appeared set to form the government in Chhattisgarh and could lead coalitions in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Read more