In India, the nationalist Hindu nationalist party BJP, in power at the national level, has just won a landslide victory in the state of Gujarat, its stronghold from which comes Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But lost control of another northern state and Delhi municipality.
With our correspondent in New Delhi, Sebastien Farcis
Victory is overwhelming. BJP wins 85% of Gujarat regional assembly seats. The Hindu nationalist party has been in power in this state for 27 years, but it is strengthening its presence even more. This demonstrates the anchoring of the BJP model, based on a liberal economic system and a social policy favorable to the Hindu majority.
► To read also: Elections in Gujarat: the BJP tries to appropriate the legacy of Gandhi
During the campaign, the Federal Minister of the Interior said that the 2002 anti-Muslim pogromswhich claimed the lives of more than 2,000 people and ostracized this minority, were beneficial because they “ ensured peace in the state “. This policy, however, failed to convince voters in Himachal Pradesh, a northern region where the Congress party replaced the BJP. It is one of the few recent electoral successes for the old Gandhi party.
In New Delhi, the religious and caste vote exceptionally lost its importance, and the BJP lost the municipality in favor of the party of Aam Admi, which already leads the region of the capital. This is India’s true urban party, which successfully focuses on improving education and public health, as well as subsidies for the poor.