In boost for Modi, India's BJP set to win 3 of 4 key state polls

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By YP Rajesh, Rupam Jain and Krishn Kaushik

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India's ruling nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday appeared set to win three of four states in key regional polls, in a big boost for Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of general elections in six months.

The heartland states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and the southern state of Telangana, voted last month in the last set of provincial elections before the national vote due by May, when Modi seeks a third term.

BJP had established clear leads in all three heartland states and appeared set to win them, vote-counting data from the independent election panel and five news TV channels showed.

BJP's performance was better than widely expected as opinion and exit polls had suggested a close contest between Modi's party and the main opposition Congress, indicating BJP and Modi's growing popularity despite a decade in power nationally.

Although Congress won Telangana, its second victory in the south this year, Sunday's outcome is seen as a setback to the party and its leader Rahul Gandhi as it was wiped out of the politically critical heartland.

«We always said we will win the heartland states,» BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda told Reuters. «The results are the outcome of our finest political strategy and work on the ground.»

BJP members and supporters burst firecrackers, distributed sweets and danced in the streets to the beat of drums in the three states.

«It's a clean sweep by the BJP in three states, the mandate proves voters trust Modi,» said federal aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who belongs to Madhya Pradesh.

Modi remains widely popular after a decade in power and surveys suggest he will win again next year.