India small political parties see big chance

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After suffering an electoral thrashing at the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party in 2014, India’s small regional and caste-based parties are back in the reckoning months ahead of the next general election.

Losses for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced in three key states on Tuesday – blamed mainly on rural anger at weak farm prices and sluggish job creation – have opened the door for new and old alliances between the main opposition Congress and smaller parties bitterly opposed to Modi.

Most political strategists still expect the BJP to cling on to national power, albeit with a smaller majority, in an election due by May next year. But they also acknowledge this week’s results in three big heartland states have opened up the outside possibility that Congress could stitch together enough support from smaller parties to form the next government.

“At the central level, Prime Minister Modi maintains overwhelming popularity over his competitors, and anecdotal evidence suggests BJP has more boots on the ground than other parties to mobilize during its re-election campaign,” Nomura said in a research note. “However, we do expect talks of a grand (opposition) coalition to raise political uncertainty into the 2019 general elections.” (RTRS)

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