Modi wins big in India state poll

NEW DELHI, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- Voters in Gujarat state ignored the Indian ruling coalition's effort to paint their chief minister as a Hindu fanatic by re-electing him with a big majority.

Narendra Modi, the 57-year-old outspoken state leader of the Hindu nationalist Bharaitya Janata Party currently the main opposition in Indian parliament, led his party to a fourth straight win in the prosperous western state to regain his chief minister's post.

His BJP party won 117 of 182 seats in the state assembly to vastly improve its chances in the general elections 18 months away against the current ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Congress party. The Congress party, which had conducted a spirited campaign against Modi, won 59 seats.

"Everybody is responsible" for the defeat, B.K. Hariprasad, general secretary of the Congress party, said Monday, the Press Trust of India reported.

The campaign against Modi centered on accusations he failed to protect Muslims in the 2002 religious riots in which some 1,000 died. Those riots followed after 57 Hindus died in a burning train coach, an attack blamed on Muslims.

Supporters say Modi helped restore normalcy in the state and vastly strengthen its economy.

The Times of India reported Modi won while defying anti-incumbency factors and a rebellion within his party,