Modi's party heads for victory in Maharashtra state election while opposition wins Jharkhand

NEW DELHI (AP) — Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party headed for a victory Saturday in state elections in politically significant Maharashtra while the opposition won mineral-rich Jharkhand state.

Polling in the two states are seen as a test of Modi's popularity after his party returned to power in June national elections but was forced to form a coalition government with help from regional partners.

India’s Election Commission said Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies have already won 183 of 288 seats and were leading in another 48 seats in Maharashtra, India’s wealthiest state and home to the country's financial and entertainment capital, Mumbai.

The opposition Congress party and its allies have won 50 of 81 seats and were leading in another four seats in eastern Jharkhand state, according to the commission. It said vote counting was nearing completion and final results were expected later on Saturday.

Modi's BJP and a Hindu nationalist ally currently rule Maharashtra, where Hindus constitute nearly 80% and Muslims 11.5% of its 126 million people. An opposition alliance, including the Congress party, is in power in eastern Jharkhand state.

The BJP has used slogans such as, “If you divide, then you will die,” and “If we are united, then we are safe,” to attract majority Hindu votes. The opposition accused it of trying to polarize voters along Hindu-Muslim religious lines.

Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi from Congress party, the 52-year-old scion of the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty, is set to make her debut in Parliament after winning the race against a Communist Party candidate by a huge margin of over 400,000 votes in the Wayanad seat in southern Kerala state.

She contested a special election after her brother Rahul, who was elected in two constituencies in June, had to vacate one. Her mother Sonia Gandhi is already in Parliament.

The BJP had hoped to attract women with a plan that provides 1,500 rupees ($18) a month to over 20 million women in the 21-65 age group whose annual family income is less than 250,000 rupees ($3,010). The Congress party promised women double that amount and free transportation in government buses.

The opposition also hoped to capitalize on the simmering disaffection with high youth unemployment, inflation and low crop prices during the BJP’s rule.

In September, Congress was able to secure votes in India’s insurgency-wracked Jammu and Kashmir after a 10-year gap. But Modi’s BJP regained momentum in October and won the Haryana state election even though pollsters had predicted an easy victory for Congress.