Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has won the regional vote in Arunachal Pradesh, a state bordering China, while a local party swept to power in Sikkim, a Himalayan state, officials and politicians said on Sunday.
Provincial elections in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim were held on April 19th, simultaneously with the first phase of the national polls.
Indications suggest Mr Modi is set to win a comfortable majority in India’s election for the third time in a row, several early exit polls showed, extending his decade in power atop the world’s fastest growing major economy.
The polls showed his Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance will win well more than the 272 seats needed for a majority in India’s 543-seat lower house of parliament. More exit polls are set to be released throughout the weekend and actual votes will be counted on Tuesday, June 4th.
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Mr Modi hailed the early exit poll results, saying it showed a victory for the BJP-led alliance. “I can say with confidence that the people of India have voted in record numbers to re-elect the NDA government,” he said in a post on social media platform X. He said the BJP’s track record resonated with voters, especially among the poor, and criticised the opposition alliance’s campaign for failing to provide a vision for the country.
The BJP comfortably retained power in Arunchal Pradesh by winning 46 of the 60 seats. A senior BJP politician Ashok Singhal said the results were a “curtain-raiser” ahead of national election results that will be declared. “This is just the trailer ahead of the real show on June 4th. The massive victory that PM Modi will win has started with Arunachal Pradesh,” he said.
In Sikkim, the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha – a regional party that allied with the BJP for national polls in 2019 – won by a landslide, securing 31 of the 32 seats in the state assembly. Neither the BJP nor the national opposition Congress party won any seats in Sikkim. – Reuters
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