India PM Modi's BJP sweeps polls in 3 states

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won regional votes in three of the four state elections Sunday, according to the election commission.

The BJP comfortably won Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, which the opposition Indian National Congress previously controlled. Modi's party also retained Madhya Pradesh, with the Congress taking Telangana, vote-counting data showed.

"Today's victory is historic, it is unprecedented," Modi said in a victory speech at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi.

Vote counting in a fifth state, Mizoram, is set for Monday, where BJP's regional ally, the Mizo National Front, is in power.

Modi will seek reelection next year

The BJP's victory in the three key states comes only months before a national election due to be held between April and May. 

Sunday's results enhanced the prospects for Modi's bid to be reelected for a third consecutive term next year.

Despite initial indications of a close contest between the BJP and the Congress party, the ruling party's performance was better than expected.

Rahul Gandhi, the Congress leader, conceded defeat in the three states where his party was trailing. "The battle of ideology will continue," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Modi and his party remain popular on a national level after nearly a decade in power, and surveys suggest he will win the election in 2024.

But the Congress has toppled BJP governments in state elections in southern Karnataka and northern Himachal Pradesh earlier this year.

Gandhi's Congress party is also leading a new alliance of 28 opposition parties called the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, bringing together India's previously fractured opposition parties.

The alliance did not feature in the state polls due to internal rivalries, and it was a direct contest between BJP and Congress.

lo/kb (AFP, AP, Reuters)