Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP party should win power this week in the northeastern state of Assam for the first time, exit polls showed on Monday, but trail regional groups in four other areas that have held polls.
Voting in stages over the past month ended on Monday in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala states and the union territory of Puducherry. Results are due on Thursday.
A victory in Assam, a tinderbox of ethnic and religious animosities, would testify to the continuing appeal of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), while defeat elsewhere would reflect Modi’s difficulties in making inroads against popular regional parties.
An exit poll by India Today-Axis My India predicted victory for the BJP in Assam, which borders Bhutan and Bangladesh. “Our historic victory in Assam will open new frontiers for the BJP in the northeast,” BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav said.
Modi waged a polarising election campaign in a bid to form the party’s first government there. In campaign rallies, he vowed to disenfranchise millions of Muslim immigrants in a response to rising discontent among the state’s Hindus.
The results should be a snapshot of Modi’s performance as he approaches the half-way mark of his five-year tenure.
Modi, 65, swept to power in 2014 with a promise of jobs and growth, playing down his roots in the powerful Hindu-nationalist umbrella group to which his party is affiliated.
A separate poll by ABP Ananda showed the party will be defeated in the eastern state of West Bengal and two southern states, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Victory in these states could have given Modi greater control over the upper house of parliament, which would put him in better position to push through key policies.
A majority of his key economic reforms are stalled, his push to turn the country into a manufacturing powerhouse has floundered and sizeable minority groups blame him and his party for pushing a Hindu nationalist agenda at their expense.
Yet his government has made progress elsewhere, most notably in the power sector where change is reaching distressed rural communities in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state.
Modi must win in the Uttar Pradesh state poll next year to sustain his hope of one day gaining full control of parliament and a second term in 2019.
Opinion and exit polls have a patchy track record in India and surveys get carried out with sample sizes ranging from a few hundred to several thousand voters.
Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury
BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.
"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan made anti-Israeli chants in separate shows on the West Holts stage on Saturday. One of the members of Bob Vylan chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," the police statement said.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain said it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".
Prime minister Keir Starmer said earlier this month it was "not appropriate" for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury.
The band's frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert in November. He has denied the charge.
A British government minister said it was appalling that the anti-Israel chants had been made at Glastonbury, and that the festival's organisers and the BBC broadcaster - which is showing the event - had questions to answer.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli Embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
"I wish they'd take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously," he said.
(Reuters)