NEW DELHI: Two of five Indian states due to elect new legislatures this month began voting on Tuesday, a big test of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s chances of winning a third term in a national election due by May.

More than 160 million people — or about one-sixth of India’s total electorate — are eligible to vote in the regional polls being held in four legs until Nov. 30. Votes in all five states will be counted on Dec 3 and results are expected the same day.

The elections in Raja­sthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram states are mainly a contest between BJP and Congress.

“We are confident of securing a majority in all states,” said Raman Singh, a senior BJP leader and former chief minister of the mineral-rich central Indian state of Chhattis­garh, which votes on Tuesday along with Mizoram in the northeast.

“BJP faces a challenge but results will prove that people are in no mood to experiment and they trust Modi’s stable governance,” Singh told Reuters.

Opinion polls suggest close fights, particularly in Rajasthan, Madhya Prad­esh and Chhattisgarh, two of which are ruled by Congress and one by BJP.

“State elections’ results before the 2024 polls will showcase the overall public mood and it will tremendously help our opposition bloc to perfect its messaging, coordination and leadership,” said Sachin Pilot, a senior Congress leader.

“The aim is to ensure all five states are won by the Congress,” he said, adding what he called Modi’s failure to create new jobs and exacerbate communal fault lines will lead to BJP’s defeat.

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2023