Narendra Modi’s ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), achieved significant victories in key heartland states as votes were counted on Sunday. This comes months before national elections in India, the world’s most populous country. The victories further solidified Modi’s position as the favorite to win his third consecutive term as prime minister next year. The BJP took control of Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan states from the opposition and retained Madhya Pradesh in a landslide, despite a spirited challenge. These results are seen as a setback for Rahul Gandhi and the opposition Indian National Congress party. The BJP also won in Telangana, while votes in Mizoram were yet to be counted. Modi, who is widely popular after ten years in office, held packed campaign rallies across all poll-bound states in October and November. As the final votes were still being counted, the BJP had achieved significant wins and leads in several state assembly seats in the three key states. Modi declared the victory as historic and unprecedented, thanking the people for their support. The states won by the BJP have about 190 million voters and elect dozens of members to the national parliament.