‘Big setback’: Why India’s Congress lost out to Modi in key state election

As Congress loses Haryana despite exit polls predicting comfortable win, analysts warn of tough days ahead for party.

New Delhi, India – Four months after losing its majority in parliament for the first time in a decade, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured a record third term in the northern state of Haryana and scored its best ever performance in Indian-administered Kashmir, marking a dramatic turnaround.

The results of the two northern states’ assembly elections announced on Tuesday also represent a significant setback for the opposition Congress party’s bid to end the BJP’s dominance over electoral politics in India since 2014, political analysts told Al Jazeera on Wednesday.

The Congress leads the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) that won 234 seats in the parliamentary election, of which results were announced in June, forcing the BJP – which won 240 seats in a house where the majority mark is 272 – to rely on allies to form a government.

But in Haryana, the Congress lost the election despite exit polls predicting it would win comfortably amid anger against the state’s BJP government among sections of people, including farmers and champion wrestlers.

India’s grand old party also recorded its worst-ever performance in Jammu and Kashmir in the first legislative election there since New Delhi stripped the region’s autonomy in August 2019. However, the Congress will still be a part of the next government in Kashmir as its regional alliance partner, the National Conference (NC), outran the BJP to secure the numbers needed to lead the next administration.