Modi Faces Responsibility Debate Over COVID-19 Response After Defeat in Indian Local Elections

Losses in 3 Out of 5 State Assembly Elections Including Seobengol
Expert: "Focus on Elections Over COVID-19 Led to Backlash"

On the 2nd (local time), after the victory of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) was confirmed in the local election vote count in Kolkata, the largest city in West Bengal, India, TMC supporters cheered on the streets and held a celebratory march. Kolkata, India = Photo by EPA

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] Amid India setting daily records for the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, the ruling party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi suffered defeat in the recent local elections. Analysts suggest that Modi, who has faced criticism over his handling of the COVID-19 response, has seen his leadership take a hit due to this local election loss.

On the 2nd (local time), the counting results of local council elections held in five regions of India?West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, and Tamil Nadu?showed that Modi's party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance, was defeated in three states: West Bengal, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.

In West Bengal, the main battleground of this local council election, the regional party All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) secured a commanding majority with 210 seats out of the 292 counted seats from a total of 294, while the BJP managed to win only 77 seats.

This local election was held amid the worsening COVID-19 situation in India, and it has been analyzed as a midterm evaluation of Modi’s COVID-19 response.

Since January, Modi had dismissed experts’ warnings of a COVID-19 resurgence by stating, "The worst is over," and focused on easing quarantine measures and restarting the economy. This approach has been criticized for causing a resurgence of COVID-19 in India, which is now recording nearly 400,000 new cases daily.

West Bengal was recognized as a key battleground in this local council election. As one of the most populous states in India and with the opposition controlling the West Bengal assembly, the ruling party had set winning this region as its top priority in the election. In fact, Modi visited West Bengal 12 times before the election, conducting intensive campaigns to secure victory there.

However, amid the worst COVID-19 conditions, Modi’s focus on the election is interpreted as having backfired, leading to the ruling party’s defeat. Despite demands from experts and the opposition to postpone the election, Modi pushed ahead and instead adopted an aggressive election strategy to rally his support base. Additionally, Modi faced criticism from the opposition for holding large-scale campaign events without wearing masks, which was blamed for contributing to the spread of COVID-19.

Local political commentator Arati Zeras said, "This election has given rise to strong regional opposition parties in three states that stand as formidable challengers to the ruling party," and added, "The Modi government is facing backlash due to its inadequate COVID-19 response."

Meanwhile, on the same day, India reported 390,000 new COVID-19 cases and 3,689 deaths.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.