Indian prime minister Narendra Modi is on course to secure a historic victory in a state election by defeating one of the country’s most powerful opposition figures.
Early trends in Monday’s count suggested Mr Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would sweep to a clear majority in the eastern border state of West Bengal, where the party has never ruled in the country's post-independence history.
West Bengal was one of several states and territories announcing their results on Monday, and there were positives for Mr Modi too in Assam, where the BJP is set to retain power, and in the small coastal territory of Puducherry, where it governs as part of a coalition and looks set to continue doing so.
The prime minister, his closest aide Amit Shah and several senior BJP figures had campaigned extensively in West Bengal over the past weeks, focusing on what they called illegal immigration from Bangladesh and the weak local economy under incumbent chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
Ms Banerjee, a fierce Modi critic and chief minister since 2011, leaned on welfare politics and Bengali sub-nationalism in her bid to clinch an historic fourth term. But the results appear to tally with the voices The Independent heard on the ground last week, where dozens of voters in the state declared it was time for poriborton (change).
The BJP was leading in 191 out of 293 polled assembly seats as of 4pm local time, while Ms Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC) was ahead in 88 seats, according to the Election Commission of India.
Earlier in the day, Ms Banerjee urged calm in a video released on social media. "They are trying to manipulate the election," she said. "I want to request TMC candidates to not be disappointed. I had told you, that you all will win after sunset. Just wait and watch."
West Bengal witnessed one of its most intense campaign seasons in recent history, with Mr Modi’s mobilising its significant power and capital to secure a much-sought victory in the state. The election commission had imposed unprecedented restrictions on tourist movement, banned liquor sales for days, ordered the deployment of 250,000 paramilitary personnel and armoured vehicles, and stationed officers of the federal counter-terrorism agency NIA in the state.
"The entire country has its eyes on this state's election results," political analyst Biswanath Chakraborty told AFP in the state capital Kolkata. "The contest can tilt the balance of power."
In the southern state of Tamil Nadu, a major hub for electronics and automobiles, popular movie star Joseph Vijay, a first-time entrant into politics who launched his party only two years ago, looked on course to oust the ruling DMK party.
The actor, who goes by the single name Vijay, has a frenzied fan following in the state, which has a history of electing film stars to the top office. Mr Vijay, who launched his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) party in 2024, was leading in 104 of the 234 seats, while the incumbent DMK was polling first in 44 seats.
Even if trends hold, Mr Vijay would have to form a post-election alliance with either the DMK or the AIADMK to secure the majority to rule Tamil Nadu for the next five years.
The DMK have been vocal critics of Mr Modi, and alongside Ms Banerjee’s TMC were the main regional powerhouses in the Congress-led opposition INDIA alliance. The alliance jointly fought the 2024 general election and deprived Mr Modi of an outright majority, forcing him to rely on the support of regional parties to form a coalition government.
Their losses are expected to significantly weaken opposition to Mr Modi in 2029, when he will contest for a record fourth term in office.
In the other southern state of Kerala, an alliance led by the Congress party – the main national opposition party – looked set to defeat the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist), with Congress leading in 63 out of 126 seats.
"It looks like we may get over 100 out of 140 seats, which would be a comprehensive win," senior Congress member Shashi Tharoor told the PTI news agency. "It would be a historic moment, for the first time in recent democratic history, there would be no Communist government in power in any state," he said.
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