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 (BJP), 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 (TMC), 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 told AFP, 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.”
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