Vote counting is underway in India's state elections, with West Bengal being a key battleground where Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP aims to challenge Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress. The elections, held in April and May, could shift the political balance in the state of 100 million people. Exit polls suggest a tight race, while Banerjee remains confident of victory. The campaign was marked by voter roll controversies and allegations of marginalization.
Vote counting in key Indian state elections was underway on Monday under tight security, with the focus on West Bengal , where Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party is hoping for crucial gains.
Elections in five states and territories took place in April and May, and Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party , the ruling party in the national parliament, is hoping to make inroads into opposition-held states. In West Bengal, the Hindu-nationalist BJP waged an aggressive bid to dislodge Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the firebrand leader of the All India Trinamool Congress , in power in the state of 100 million people since 2011.
Exit polls last week predicted the BJP has a slight edge over TMC, although exit polls have a patchy record in India.
'The entire country has its eyes on this state's election results,' political analyst Biswanath Chakraborty toldAFP, in the main city, Kolkata. 'The contest can tilt the balance of power. 'The campaign this time was marked by protests over the removal of millions of names from voter rolls, billed as removing ineligible voters, but which critics said was skewed against marginalised and minority communities. Banerjee, speaking ahead of the count, insisted her TMC would win.
'The BJP is not coming, take my word for it,' she said. 'Be patient till the last. '‘Election of rejection’But West Bengal's BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya said he was confident of a win. 'It was an election of rejection,' he said.
'People of the state want change. The ruling Trinamool Congress will be defeated.
'Past elections have resulted in violence in the state. In the southern state of Tamil Nadu, a key industrial hub with more than 80 million people, the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam under Chief Minister MK Stalin is widely expected to be re-elected.
Votes are also being counted in Assam, an eastern state of more than 31 million, which the BJP is widely expected to maintain control of, and the small coastal territory of Puducherry, where the BJP is part of a ruling coalition. In Kerala, the tightly contested race in the southern state of approximately 36 million, exit polls suggest the Congress party-led alliance is tipped to oust the Communist Party.
The state elections come as Modi’s government faces a series of economic and foreign policy challenges, including high unemployment and a pending US trade deal.
Indian Elections West Bengal BJP Trinamool Congress Mamata Banerjee
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