*MUMBAI: *Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalists facedmixed fortunes in two Indian state elections, with his party on course tosee reduced majorities as a grinding economic slowdown weighed on voters.
An official count of tens of millions of ballots was underway Thursday inwestern Maharashtra state, which is home to the financial hub of Mumbai,and in Haryana in the north, bordering New Delhi.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won or was ahead in 103 seats inMaharashtra, down from 122 five years ago, the election commission’swebsite showed, leaving its rival Congress party trailing with 40 in the288-seat state assembly.
But in Haryana, the two parties were neck and neck, with each leading 35 ofthe 90 seats up for grabs — a boost for the Congress which won only 15seats in the 2014 polls.
The BJP is seeking a second term in both states, months after Modi secureda landslide win in national polls in May despite a patchy economic recordthat has seen unemployment hit levels not seen since the 1970s.
The Indian premier was a star campaigner in both states, eager to reassurevoters upset over job losses and sluggish growth.
Scores of BJP workers turned up at the party’s headquarters in Mumbaidressed in saffron tunics, with some playing drums and others carryingvictory placards and letting off firecrackers in anticipation of the finalresults.
Still, it was a fraction of the huge crowds that gathered there for stateelections five years ago.
In Haryana, BJP chief Subash Barala — who was trailing by more than 30,000votes in his own constituency — quit his post-Thursday after early resultsshowed the party struggling to carve out a lead, the Press Trust of Indiareported.
Read Top Stories
Analysts said the results were a warning sign for the BJP, which trumpetedits muscular brand of nationalism and aggressive foreign policy towardsarch-rival Pakistan in its push to voters.
Political commentator Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay said while Modi’s personalpopularity had bolstered the party’s appeal, the diminished majoritiesshowed “the BJP’s political narrative has its limits.”
“The… government has to take its economics more seriously. It cannot bluffits way past. Voters are not buying it,” he told *AFP*.
Modi is under mounting pressure to kickstart the economy, which has enduredfive consecutive quarters of slowing growth, causing India to lose itsstatus as the fastest-growing major economy to China.
The slump has hit automakers particularly hard, with sagging demand forcingcompanies to halt production, slash prices and cut jobs in a once-boomingindustry that employs millions, including at major plants in Haryana andMaharashtra.
Exit polls had predicted wins for the BJP, but said the party would have todepend on its allies to form a majority and establish a coalitiongovernment in both states.
A return to power by the BJP — even as part of a coalition — would be yetanother blow to the Congress party, which has struggled to strike a chordwith frustrated voters after dominating Indian politics for decades.-APP/AFP
