India’s Governing Party Shows Its Might in State Elections 18, 2017 NEW DELHI — India’s governing party — which detractors say stokes religious divisions but supporters praise for economic development — handily won two state elections, according to results released on Monday. Despite aggressive campaigning by the opposition and talk about rising discontent over India’s economy, unemployment and poor public services, the governing party held control of the State Assembly of Gujarat, one of India’s most industrialized states, and it captured the assembly of Himachal Pradesh, a small state tucked in the Himalayas. Over the past several weeks, he has crisscrossed the state, holding huge rallies that have turned dusty fields into seas of saffron flags and scarves — saffron is his party’s signature color — and even traveling by seaplane. Center said that The emotional connection of Mr. Modi with Gujarat is still very strong, Mr. Modi was a celebrated chief minister in Gujarat’s state government for 13 years before rising to prime minister of the country in 2014. Congress, as the party is commonly known, has struggled in recent years, but analysts say it is being energized under Rahul Gandhi, the scion of a revered political family who was recently handed the party’s reins from his mother.
