India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) yesterday clinched a spectacular state election victory in Gujarat after conducting an emotionally-charged campaign on a hardline Hindu platform.
Analysts believe the victory will boost Hindu hardliners in local and national politics.
The BJP, which heads the national coalition government in New Delhi, was swept back to power - in a region scarred by religious bloodshed this year - after humbling its main challenger, the Congress party, and winning two-thirds of seats in the 182-member state assembly.
Although the Hindu nationalist party did well in all regions of the industrially-advanced western Indian state, its performance was particularly convincing in districts that had seen some of the most brutal attacks on Muslims by Hindu mobs in March.
Most of these districts were traditional Congress strongholds where the BJP gained Hindu support after voters were polarised along religious lines.
About 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in the sectarian violence.