Shafaqna Pakistan: Vote counting was underway Monday in key Indian state elections under tight security, with particular focus on West Bengal, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party is seeking major gains.
Polling across five states and territories was held in April and May, and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is aiming to expand its presence in regions currently governed by opposition parties.
In West Bengal, the BJP mounted a strong challenge against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), who has been in power since 2011 in the state of around 100 million people.
Exit polls released last week suggested a narrow advantage for the BJP over the TMC, though such projections have often proven unreliable in India. Political analyst Biswanath Chakraborty said the results are being closely watched nationwide, noting that the outcome could influence the broader balance of power.
The campaign this time was marked by protests over the removal of millions of names from voter rolls, billed as removing ineligible voters, but which critics said was skewed against marginalised and minority communities.
Banerjee, speaking ahead of the count, insisted her TMC would win. “The BJP is not coming, take my word for it,” she said. “Be patient till the last”.
But West Bengal’s BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya told AFP he was confident of a win. “It was an election of rejection,” he said. “People of the state want change. The ruling Trinamool Congress will be defeated”.
Past elections have resulted in violence in the state.
In the southern state of Tamil Nadu, a key industrial hub with more than 80 million people, the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) under Chief Minister MK Stalin is widely expected to be re-elected.
Votes are also being counted in Assam, an eastern state of more than 31 million, which the BJP is widely expected to maintain control of, and the small coastal territory of Puducherry, where the BJP is part of a ruling coalition.
In Kerala, the tightly contested race in the southern state of approximately 36 million, exit polls suggest the Congress party-led alliance is tipped to oust the Communist party.
Wins in the state elections would put Modi on a stronger footing while battling a series of economic and foreign policy challenges, including a high unemployment rate and a pending United States trade deal.
Source: Express Tribune
