India's Hindu nationalists 'win' Gujarat poll

0 Comments | AFP, December, 2007

NEW DELHI (AFP) — Controversial Hindu nationalist party leader Narendra Modi swept back to power in India's religiously divided Gujarat state Sunday in what was called a national victory over the rival Congress party.

The Congress loss in the Hindu nationalist bastion, though widely expected, was its fourth setback in regional polls this year for the party which governs nationally and raised questions about its federal poll prospects in 2009.

Vote counting following a two-phase election earlier this month showed Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead in about 117 districts, giving it a clear majority in the 182-seat legislature, according to partial information on the website of India's Election Commission and television forecasts.

The Congress Party is...