BJP’s expected victory in two states a boost for unpopular reforms

NEW DELHI — India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to emerge as the largest party in two state legislatures where it has traditionally been weak, exit polls showed, thanks to intense campaigning by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Victory in the Maharashtra and Haryana state elections will make it easier for Mr Modi to launch unpopular reforms to remove price caps on natural gas and diesel, which economists have said will help India balance its accounts and reduce energy shortages.

All five exit polls released late on Wednesday said the centre-right party favoured by investors would emerge as the largest player in the two states when results are announced on Sunday. Two of the surveys showed the BJP with a majority, or within a whisker of one, in both states.

“Modi Magic continues. It’s a jackpot for BJP in Maharashtra,” said Today’s Chanakya, one of the few pollsters that accurately predicted the BJP’s performance in the May general election, which catapulted Mr Modi to power.

Today’s Chanakya said the BJP would emerge with 31 per cent of the vote and 151 seats in Maharashtra’s 288-member House. In Haryana, the party was headed for 52 seats of 90 and a 32 per cent share of the vote. The poll had a 3 per cent margin of error.

State elections determine the number of seats parties have in the national Upper House of Parliament. The party needs to do well in a clutch of state polls until 2017 in order to gain a majority in the Upper House.

By expanding the BJP’s reach beyond its traditional strongholds, a strong showing in the current elections will also advance Mr Modi’s goal of replacing the Gandhi dynasty’s centre-left Congress Party as India’s default ruling party.

The exit polls suggest that voters are drawn more to Mr Modi’s appeal than to the BJP. The party did poorly in by-elections last month where the Prime Minister did not campaign.

This time he hit the stump hard, addressing dozens of rallies across Maharashtra, home to India’s financial capital Mumbai, and Haryana, where the northern tech-city of Gurgaon is located. AGENCIES