NEW DELHI: Voters cast ballots Monday in two Indian states where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party is seeking a second consecutive term.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is expected to win the elections in Maharashtra in the west and Haryana in the north after its dominant victory in national elections earlier this year.
Modi took to Twitter to urge voters to participate in large numbers and exercise their right to vote and “enrich the festival of democracy.”
The BJP’s high-voltage election campaigning aggressively raised the nationalism plank by focusing on the government’s scrapping of disputed Kashmir’s special status in early August and it targeted the opposition on national security and corruption.
In Maharashtra, where the BJP and Shiv Sena coalition is expected to retain power according to opinion polls, the BJP has pledged to work toward making the state drought-free.
Opinion surveys predicted a BJP romp in Harayana too, where its main opposition, the Congress party, could face a near decimation. Congress, however, is hoping to recover from its national election rout last spring and make a comeback in the state.
The traffic in Haryana was scanty as most people remained indoors. Voters said they were voting for issues related “employment.”
“We want someone who is educated to rule our state and fix our problems,” said Mohamad Sajid, a voter in Mewat district.
The opposition tried to corner the BJP governments in the two states on the handling of the economy, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi blaming the ruling party for an economic slowdown and unemployment. But the opposition campaigns were lackluster due to infighting and desertions in the run-up to the vote.
The Congress party is going through a tough phase after it won only 52 of 542 parliamentary seats in the nationwide polls this year, compared to 303 won by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.
Votes in Haryana and Maharashtra will be counted on Oct. 24.
