India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is heading for a record-breaking landslide victory in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat for a seventh straight term.The right-wing party is leading in 156 of the 182 seats in the state assembly, according to data released by the election commission on Thursday.
The final results are expected later on Thursday. In the last state legislature elections held in 2017, the BJP won 99 seats.
Experts say the stunning victory in the western state would bolster the BJP’s popularity ahead of general elections scheduled for the summer of 2024, in which Modi is eyeing a third term as prime minister.
Trends in the two-phase state polls showed the opposition Congress party, which won 77 seats in 2017, is leading in just 17 constituencies of Gujarat.New entrant the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which runs the government in the national capital of Delhi and in Punjab after wins there earlier this year, is leading in only five seats.In crucial civic poll results which were declared on Wednesday, the BJP lost control of the municipal corporation in Delhi to the AAP. – Al Jazeera
