Congress party will likely lead 2019 anti-Modi front

Significance

Party President Rahul Gandhi’s Congress displaced the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from power in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, all in the nationally ruling party’s ‘Hindu-Hindi’ heartland and with large rural constituencies. In recent months, opposition parties including Congress have been in talks about possibly forming a broad anti-BJP front to challenge Modi in the general election, likely in April or May next year.

Impacts

• More farmer-led protests are likely ahead of the general election.
• Outbreaks of Hindu-Muslim violence are likely, especially in the north and west.
• Modi’s government will press the Reserve Bank of India to release more reserves and cut rates, hoping to boost growth.