Narendra Modi’s party triumphs in India’s bellwether state

AS THE COUNT came in on March 10th from elections in five Indian states, there were few big surprises. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Narendra Modi, the prime minister, held on to the country’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh. The Hindu nationalists also stayed on top in the small states of Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand. And if Mr Modi’s party made a poor show in medium-sized Punjab, most of whose 30m people are Sikhs, this came with a sweet consolation. Punjabis gave a far crueller thrashing to Congress, the BJP’s fading national rival, reducing a hefty majority in one of the grand old party’s last redoubts to less than 15%. Voters elected instead the newish Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).