NEW DELHI — India’s ruling Hindu nationalist party won landslide victories in results announced Saturday from key state legislative elections that were seen as a referendum on the performance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s nearly 3-year-old government.
Leaders from Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party said the party’s victory in Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest state, would boost Modi’s chances of winning another term as India’s prime minister in 2019 elections.
The Election Commission said the BJP won 311 out of 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh.
In another northern state, Uttarakhand, the ruling party won 56 of 70 seats and was leading in one other constituency, wresting power from the Congress party, the main opposition at the national level. The Congress party won 11 seats.
The elections were held in five states in February and early March, but the votes were not tallied until Saturday.
The Congress party had a face-saving win in Punjab state, where it captured 77 of 117 seats.
Both the BJP and the Congress party failed to win a majority of seats in western Goa state and northeastern Manipur state. They will seek the support of regional groups to form governing alliances.
The Congress party and other BJP rivals had hoped that voters would punish Modi’s government for demonetizing the country’s highest-value currency bills in November, which created hardships for many.
