Rahul Gandhi looks to dent PM Narendra Modi’s winning image as Indian states head to the polls
- Five state elections this month and next will act as a litmus test of the Indian president’s popularity ahead of next year’s general elections
Millions of Indians voted on Wednesday in a state election that has been seen as a key duel between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his main rival, before the whole country goes to the polls in 2019.
Modi’s right-wing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has governed the central state of Madhya Pradesh, home to 73 million people, since 2003 – having won three state elections in a row.
But polls suggest that the opposition Congress headed by Rahul Gandhi, scion of the Gandhi-Nehru dynasty, could win on the back of concerns about rising unemployment and by appealing to disgruntled farmers.
The party, which lost power in Madhya Pradesh in 2003 – and nationally to Modi in 2014 – has campaigned aggressively against three-time chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on issues of corruption and misgovernance.
Chouhan, who lead the BJP to a thumping majority in the 2013 elections, has nevertheless sounded confident. Modi himself has addressed no fewer than 10 rallies in the state in a hard-fought campaign.
“This is not the toughest election of my career, it’s very comfortable,” Chouhan told reporters after casting his vote.