India’s ruling party and its allies have won a key state election seen as a barometer of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic downturn.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and his regional ally, Janata Dal (United), won 125 seats of Bihar state’s 243-seat legislature, the Election Commission of India Web site showed yesterday.
A coalition of more than three political parties opposed to the incumbent alliance was trailing with 110 seats.
Photo: AP
The counting process took much longer than usual, as more electronic voting machines were deployed to avoid crowding in polling centers in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.
“Democracy has once again won in Bihar with the blessings of the people,” Modi said in a tweet.
Bihar in eastern India is its second-most populous state and one of its poorest.
Control of the key electoral battleground was seen as a referendum on Modi’s popularity.
His opponents have criticized what they call his government’s inept handling of the pandemic, which has so far led to more than 127,000 death nationwide.
Modi’s party and his alliance partner were pitted against the resurgent Rashtriya Janata Dal party, led by 31-year-old state Legislator Tejashwi Yadav.
The young leader campaigned in an alliance with the Indian National Congress, the country’s main opposition party, and some left-leaning parties.
The alliance made employment for young people its main election promise in the state where the unemployment rate is nearly double India’s national average.
The BJP and its allies focused on nationalistic policies.
To win votes, the coalition leaders often evoked last year’s erosion of Muslim-majority Kashmir’s semi-autonomy, the placement in August of a ceremonial cornerstone for a temple in central India on the site of a mosque that was destroyed by Hindu rioters decades ago and the ongoing border clash with China in mountainous Ladakh.
Yadav’s coalition was initially seen as a long-shot effort.
However, his alliance drew attention as pollsters predicted a wave of an anti-incumbency against the state government amid a pandemic that has so far led to at least 1,000 deaths and 220,000 cases of COVID-19 in the state.
Modi’s second term has been marked by a shrinking economy, widening social strife, numerous protests against discriminatory laws and the government reaction to the pandemic.
India’s tally of confirmed cases — the second-largest in the world behind the US — stands at more than 8.5 million.
Modi’s overall popularity remains unmatched in India, but his party over the past two years faced tougher-than-expected challenges in state polls.
During the period, the BJP lost six state elections and gained power only in two.
Despite the party’s sweeping victory to a second term in the Indian general election in May last year, the BJP experienced a major setback when it lost two key coalition partners in northern Punjab and western Maharashtra.
Millions voted in Bihar, where authorities in an effort to halt people from spreading COVID-19 while they voted increased the number of polling stations, extended voting time by one hour at most sites and required sanitization of electronic voting machines.
Political campaigning was initially replaced with virtual rallies, but political parties held rallies that drew tens of thousands of supporters, many not wearing masks. That raised fears that COVID-19 cases could jump and strain the state’s critically underfunded and weak healthcare system.
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