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The ruling Trinamool Congress was ahead of the BJP in the keenly watched state of West Bengal while the DMK had an edge in Tamil Nadu as trends poured in for counting of votes on Sunday in the high-stakes assembly elections in four states and a union territory. In Assam, the ruling BJP-led NDA was leading in 22 seats, while the Grand Alliance spearheaded by the Congress is ahead in 15 places, according to initial trends available from counting of postal ballots in Assam, officials said. The ruling LDF in Kerala was leading in 75 of the total 140 seats while opposition UDF was ahead in 56 segments as counting of votes for the April 6 assembly elections got underway.
NEW DELHI: India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi failed to make gains in four recent state elections, according to preliminary voting trends released Sunday by the independent Election Commission, indicating his Hindu nationalist party’s political strength may be slipping as the country struggles to contain an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases.
The Election Commission’s vote forecast showed the Bharatiya Janata Party trailing in West Bengal state behind a powerful regional party, apparently unable to dislodge the state’s firebrand chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, after a hard-fought campaign.
Modi’s party looks set to retain power in the northeastern Assam state for a second term, but failed to pick up any significant gains there or make inroads in two southern states, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Final results will be released late Sunday.
Why The BJP Failed To Dislodge Didi
by R Jagannathan - May 2, 2021 07:55 AM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah
Snapshot
The BJP has a choice to make: it can become a truly Hindu party that offers the minorities a decent deal or risk falling between the identity and secular stools.
The Trinamool Congressâs thumping victory in West Bengal will be widely seen as a big defeat for the BJP, which poured all its resources into the state, with some expectation that it may actually dethrone Mamata Banerjee. That it could not do so should be considered a blessing, for it can fight harder and more differently the next time. A success it did not deserve and was not ready for is not worth having.
Setback for Modi with loss in key India state poll
World
Sun, May 02, 2021
Indian supporters of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) celebrate the party s lead during the ongoing counting process of the West Bengal legislative assembly election, in Siliguri on May 2, 2021. AFP/Diptendu Dutta
KOLKATA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi s Hindu-nationalist party suffered a setback Sunday when it lost a tightly contested and violence-hit state poll.
India held its biggest democratic exercise in two years over the past month, with 175 million people eligible to vote in five regional elections.
But the marathon polls involved huge rallies where many attendees were maskless, and a record-breaking coronavirus spike coincided with the final phases of voting.