NEW DELHI
(Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling alliance is stepping
up its assault on the opposition Congress party as it looks to expand its
national dominance and moves closer to securing a majority in the upper house
of parliament.
Modi won the
biggest mandate in 30 years in the 2014 general election, giving him control of
the lower house. But his nationalist coalition still lacks a majority in the
upper house that represents India's 29 states and has proven to be a stumbling
block for its legislative agenda.
His
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been chipping away at that problem. It
recently won the backing of some opposition lawmakers to secure the election of
its candidate Ram Nath Kovind as president.
The party
also joined a coalition in the big northern state of Bihar, in the process
demolishing an opposition alliance that had dealt it its only major election
defeat since 2014.
With Bihar,
Modi gained 10 more upper-house seats. That brings his nationalist alliance's
tally to 89 seats - still short of, but increasingly within reach of, a simple
majority of 123 seats.
Now, the BJP
has turned its attention to a fight that could increase its strength in the
upper house and deal Congress another blow.
BJP
President Amit Shah and another Modi loyalist are running for re-election to
the upper house from Gujarat, the prime minister's western home state. They are
also aiming for a third seat from the state, held by Ahmed Patel, Congress
President Sonia Gandhi's closest aide, for the past 24 years.
Wresting
away Patel's seat could finally consign to the history books an era in which
the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty of the Congress party produced three Indian prime
ministers.
"If her
main man can't get the support of Congress, it means that Sonia Gandhi's grip
over the party is gone," Rajdeep Sardesai, a leading television anchor and
Modi biographer, told Reuters.
Patel was
not available for comment.
"The
results of the Gujarat election will prove that Congress is broken, dismantled
and they have nothing to offer to their members and to the country," said
Bhupender Yadav, the BJP's national general secretary.
"We are
in the best possible scenario."
Half a dozen
Congress lawmakers from the state have defected ahead of the Aug. 8 vote in
which they will elect three upper house members.
In response,
the Congress evacuated more than 40 of its lawmakers from Gujarat to a golf
hotel outside the southern city of Bengaluru. They are at the Eagleton country
club, which bills itself "a luxury country club and world-class
resort".
Shankar Sinh
Vagela, one defector, derided Congress as a "rudderless ship" unable
to win elections. "Discontent has been simmering for a long time, but no
one from Congress headquarters was paying attention," he said.
Responding,
Congress spokesman Shaktisinh Gohil said the BJP doesn't "realise that
this is a battle of ideology".
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