India’s ruling BJP wins big in state polls but can it extend victory into 2024 national elections?
- BJP’s win in the north and central states means the party has consolidated its stronghold and has an edge in national polls next year, observers say
- Results show ‘complete decline’ of Congress party’s support in north India and could even erode the opposition INDIA coalition
The Congress party secured victory in the southern Indian state of Telangana, where a regional party had held power for two consecutive terms. But the win in the north and central states means that the BJP has consolidated its stronghold, observers said.
That matters because the Hindi-speaking region accounts for around 200 of the 545 parliamentary seats in the lower house, said Yashwant Deshmukh, an independent political commentator and founder of New Delhi-based research firm C-Voter.
“The results show that there is a complete institutional decline of the Congress party in the north. The sheer organisational strength of the BJP came through,” he said.
One of the biggest surprises was BJP’s resounding victory in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, where it has been in power for 18 years and was expected to face an anti-incumbency wave. In the adjoining state of Chhattisgarh, Congress was expected to fare well because it had a competent government in place.
The results are likely to boost financial markets because it signals that a stable government is likely to continue in the country. US-based investment banking firm Jefferies in October said the Indian stock market could fall by 25 per cent if the BJP lost the national polls. The benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange Index was up 1.5% in afternoon trading on Monday.
