Congress Party workers celebrated the expected poll victory on Thursday [EPA]

Supporters of the Congress Party were celebrating the prospect of retaining power in the states where vote counting was continuing on Thursday.

The polls held last week in the states of Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh were seen as a major test for the coalition after a strong victory in national elections in May.

In Maharashtra, preliminary poll results suggested that the Congress and its Nationalist Congress Party ally were ahead in 134 out of 288 seats against a combination of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena.

The Congress was also leading in Haryana in 41 out of 90 seats and in 21 out of 60 seats in Arunachal Pradesh.

Staying in power, the Congress coalition would be able to push economic reforms and dictate the scope of reform measures such as stake sales in state-run firms, experts said.

"This paves the way for economic reforms because there will be less number of dissenting voices and the Congress can now focus on economic reforms as their first priority," said D H Pai Panandikar of the RPG Foundation, an economic think-tank.

"The vote shows the Congress is coming on its own and is reinstating itself as the single largest party in India."

Recommend this article...

Did you enjoy this article? Please bookmark it onto:

Be first to comment this article

Write Comment

Please keep the topic of messages relevant to the subject of the article. Personal verbal attacks will be deleted. Please don't use comments to plug your web site. Such material will be removed. Just ensure to *Refresh* your browser for a new security code to be displayed prior to clicking on the 'Send' button. Keep in mind that the above process only applies if you simply entered the wrong security code.
Name:
E-mail
Homepage
Title:
BBCode:
Comment:
Code:*
	I wish to be contacted by email regarding additional comments

Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.4