INDIA: India's Hindu nationalist party has won unexpected victories over the incumbent Congress party in three of four key state legislative elections, marking a turning point in the country's secular politics.
Prime Minister Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept the neighbouring central Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh and nearby Rajasthan as counting of votes concluded yesterday.
But in elections that were fought largely on local issues such as electricity, water shortages and bad road conditions, the sitting Congress party retained power by winning 48 seats in the 70-member assembly.
"We didn't expect this. We thought it would be two-two (two states going to the BJP and two to the Congress)," a delighted Mr Vajpayee told reporters aboard a special flight en route to the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Nigeria.
Analysts and BJP MPs said the party's impressive electoral performance could tempt Mr Vajpayee to call early parliamentary elections next year before their October deadline, but the Prime Minister has ruled out early polls.
"There is still one year left," Mr Vajpayee said enigmatically, a day after urging BJP MPs to "begin preparing" for the Lok Sabha (Lower House) polls "even though they were a year away".
"If the BJP returns to head the federal government - and its latest performance indicates that it will - then India faces an uncertain future, " former foreign secretary Mr S K Singh said.
During their five years in office the Hindu nationalists have conducted nuclear tests, begun stockpiling atomic weapons and missiles to deliver them and came close to war with nuclear rival Pakistan last year.
The BJP and close allies like the World Hindu Council, who want to make India a Hindu republic, were also blamed by the National Human Rights Commission and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for "sponsoring" the pogrom of Muslims in western Gujarat state last year in which over 1,200 people died.
BJP-linked groups were also held responsible by NGOs for a wave of attacks on Christians, their churches and institutions since 2001.
"Our victory is thanks to god and the love of the people," Ms Vasundhara Raje, a glamourous princess from the royal Scindia household in central India, said after leading the BJP to its best ever electoral performance in Rajasthan. It won 119 seats, 62 more than the ruling Congress party in the 200-member legislature.
This victory ensures Ms Raje's installation as the first female chief minister of Rajasthan, a region dominated by macho descendents of Rajput kings and chieftains who, in accordance with tradition, burnt their womenfolk alive before leaving for battle to prevent them falling into enemy hands.
Ms Uma Bharti, the fiery BJP leader who was responsible for her party securing a record majority in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh's 230-member legislature, will also be the first woman chief minister of an equally male-dominated province.