Four of five states that went to polls returned the BJP to power. The AAP swept Punjab, packing off stalwarts and uprooting rival parties. Polls came amid criticism of the handling of the H1N1 pandemic by India’s top election official Adityanath.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said his party’s Uttar Pradesh (UP) results have “decided” the 2024 Lok Sabha election. The BJP is set to form governments again in UP, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur, he told party workers.
The verdict was a stamp of approval for the BJP in elections considered a test for the Lok Sabha polls still two years away. For the BJP, the taste of victory was sweeter in Uttar Pradesh where Yogi Adityanath broke the comeback jinx of almost four decades. Not only did he stave off the challenge from the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP, but eclipsed all others in the fray, reducing the Congress, BSP and Others to single digits. Voted out of Punjab, it was leading only on two seats in UP where its vote share had dropped to a little over 2%.
Complete News Source : The Indian Express
