INDIA ASSEMBLY POLLS OFFER A CHANCE TO BJP TO TEST ITS POLITICAL NARRATIVE ANEW IN SOUTH

By Shakir Husain

NEW DELHI, March 16 (Bernama) -- Assembly elections in four Indian states and one union territory next month are set to test Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), particularly in southern India, where the party has struggled to expand its influence.

India’s Election Commission on Sunday announced that the states of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, as well as the federally administered territory of Puducherry, will go to the polls in April, involving about 174 million voters in one of the country’s largest regional electoral exercises.

Modi’s BJP is dominant in the northeastern state of Assam, which borders Bangladesh, and shares power in Puducherry as a junior partner in the coalition led by the regional All India NR Congress party.

The Trinamool Congress of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, a bitter rival of the BJP, governs West Bengal, while Tamil Nadu is ruled by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) led by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and Kerala by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of the Left Democratic Front (LDF).

Kerala, Assam and Puducherry will vote on April 9, Tamil Nadu will go to the polls on April 23, while West Bengal will hold voting in two phases on April 23 and 29.

The counting of votes will take place on May 4.

“Around 17.4 crore (174 million) electors are going to participate in these elections, an exercise of continental scale and proportionality,” Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said while announcing the schedule in New Delhi.

With 64.5 million voters and 294 assembly seats, West Bengal will host the largest electoral exercise next month, followed by 56.7 million electors and 234 seats in Tamil Nadu.

Assam, where communal politics is a serious issue, has 126 assembly seats and about 25 million voters.

Kerala's politics is dominated by the Communist-led LDF and Congress-headed United Democratic Front (UDF).

This coastal state showcases its relative social and religious harmony as a model of good governance compared to the communal and ethnically-charged environment in several parts of India.

Its 27 million voters will elect 140 assembly members, with the LDF looking for a record third consecutive election win.

Puducherry has 30 assembly seats and less than one million voters.

In Assam, the BJP and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma are expected to face a strong challenge from the Congress party, led in the state by Gaurav Gogoi, son of former chief minister Tarun Gogoi.

In Tamil Nadu, Stalin is seeking a second consecutive term, with his DMK facing its main rival, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) led by former chief minister E.K. Palaniswami.

West Bengal is also expected to witness a closely watched contest, with the BJP challenging Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress, which currently governs the state.

-- BERNAMA