INDIAN Prime Minister Narendra Modi has dominated national politics for years, but analysts say this week’s election victory in opposition-held West Bengal state could mark a watershed moment for his party’s Hindu nationalist agenda.

Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept polls in the key eastern state of more than 100 million people, winning 206 of the 294 assembly seats, according to results announced Monday, for its first-ever victory in West Bengal.

Analysts say the BJP’s victory is one of its most significant since Modi was first elected prime minister in 2014, expanding its dominance beyond the Hindi-speaking heartland of north and central India.

While many voters were drawn by a campaign that focused heavily on development and employment, the election also caps a determined party push to win over Indians apprehensive about Modi’s nationalist agenda, fearing it would come at the expense of minority groups.

“It’s a consolidation of the BJP in the east of India,” political analyst Sushila Ramaswamy told AFP.

“It... establishes the BJP as the dominant party. No doubt about that.”

Other election results announced on Monday gave the BJP a thumping win in northeastern Assam state and another term in power in the small coastal territory of Puducherry, representing a “spectacular comeback” after failing to secure a majority in the 2024 general election, according to Rasheed Kidwai, a visiting fellow with the Observer Research Foundation think-tank. — AFP