Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headed for a surprise election victory in Haryana state on Tuesday, reinforcing its popularity in the northern heartland a few months after stumbling in national elections.

An unexpected victory in the northern state has put Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party on surer electoral footing, analysts say.

The loss, which saw the BJP secure 48 out of 90 seats, was a stark contrast to Congress’s 37, leaving many questioning the party’s decision to contest the elections alone.

India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appeared on course for a surprise win on Tuesday in polls in the northern state of Haryana, but was trailing the opposition in the first elections in a decade in troubled Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) trailed in two provincial elections as votes were counted on Tuesday, TV channels said, a fresh setback after it failed to win a clear majority in the general election this year.

The BJP is in the lead in the state of Haryana which borders the capital Delhi, but trails in the federal territories of Jammu and Kashmir, which are seeing their first election results in a decade.

Most exit polls had predicted a hung assembly in Kashmir but an alliance of the main opposition Congress and the National Conference Party (NCP) are on course for a landslide in t

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