Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party and its ruling alliance were leading in elections in two Indian states, but the party has done worse than expected after most opinion polls predicted an outright win, VOA news reports.
According to preliminary results Thursday, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and its regional ally were leading in the 288-seat assembly in the western state of Maharashtra, home to India’s financial capital Mumbai.
The elections were held on Monday.
The party was expecting to cross the majority mark of 145 seats but results showed it will have to rely on its ally, Shiv Sena, to form the government for a second consecutive term.
The elections were characterized by large-scale defections with at least a dozen legislators of the opposition Congress and other parties switching sides to BJP and Shiv Sena.
Sharad Pawar, a key opposition leader in Maharashtra, saw the initial results as a vindication.
“People who left us have not been accepted. Defections have not worked in favor of those who left,” said Pawar, whose Nationalist Congress Party is set to better its 2014 poll performance.
In the northern state of Haryana, Modi’s party was faring well below expectations.
The BJP was ahead of the opposition Congress-led alliance but may fall well short of a majority with the regional Jannayak Janata Party emerging as a kingmaker.
The Congress, India’s oldest political party, has staged a comeback after facing a major defeat in national elections earlier this year and could end up doubling the number of seats in Haryana, the results showed.
The party has already sent feelers to the JJP to form a coalition government and keep its archival BJP at bay after Bhupinder Singh Hooda, a top Congress leader, appealed to other parties in Haryana to come together to form a strong government.
“I assure that each one will be respected and given a respectable position,” Hooda told reporters.
Opinion surveys had predicted a BJP romp in the elections as the opposition campaigns were lackluster due to infighting and desertions in the run-up to the vote.
The elections in the two states are the first since Modi was reelected in May and will be a test for his party, which is looking to tighten its grip on power across India.