US President Donald Trump congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, a day after India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured a landslide mandate in the state of West Bengal.
“The President congratulates Prime Minister Modi on this recent, historic, and decisive election victory,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said.
Trump’s congratulatory note came after the BJP won Bengal, a key east Indian province, for the first time ever in the country’s electoral history.
The state, over the past 50 years, was ruled out by political parties leaning towards the Left or centrist ideologies. For 35 years till 2011, Bengal was ruled by the Communist Party of India (Marxist). This was followed by a 15-year-rule of the Trinamool Congress.
Desai said that during a recent phone conversation, Trump expressed admiration for Modi’s leadership and remarked that India is fortunate to have him. He added that the President extended his congratulations on the significant electoral win.
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Earlier, addressing supporters in New Delhi, PM Modi said that a new chapter had been added to Bengal’s destiny. “People’s power has prevailed and BJP’s politics of good governance has triumphed. I bow to each and every person of West Bengal,” he said.
Analysts say the result reflects both anti-incumbency sentiment and a more effective campaign by the BJP. The state is seen as one of the toughest political frontiers that the saffron party has conquered.
Rahul Verma of the Centre for Policy Research described it as the culmination of a “seven-year project” by the party leadership, according to a report in The Guardian.
“The BJP had a strong and well-organised presence in West Bengal, and Modi is seen as a charismatic leader,” Verma said, adding that “this kind of result also wouldn’t have happened without a consolidation of the Hindu vote,” the report said.
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