NEW DELHI, Nov 20, (AP): Millions of people are voting in state elections in politically significant Maharashtra, India’s western industrial hub, and the mineral-rich eastern province of Jharkhand on Wednesday, a test of the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party and its regional partners. Maharashtra is India’s wealthiest state and home to the financial and entertainment capital, Mumbai.

It is currently ruled by a coalition of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and a Hindu nationalist ally. An opposition alliance, including the Congress party, is in power in eastern Jharkhand state. Modi has held big rallies in the two states. The challenge comes barely four months after his party suffered a setback and returned to power in national elections for a third term without a parliamentary majority.

He formed the government with the help of regional partners. Modi, in a post on social platform X ahead of the state elections, wrote: "On this occasion, I appeal to all the youth and women voters to vote in large numbers.” Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, a political analyst who wrote a Modi biography, said a reversal in these state elections would negatively impact Modi’s leadership style.

"It will have repercussions for the BJP in coming elections in Delhi and Bihar states next year," he said. Votes in the two states will be counted on Saturday. After suffering a setback in national elections, the BJP regained momentum in October as it won Haryana state elections, where pollsters had predicted an easy victory for the opposition Congress party.

Rahul Gandhi’s Congress party won a consolation victory in alliance with the regional National Conference party in local elections in India’s insurgency-wracked Jammu and Kashmir after a 10-year gap. The BJP is trying to wrest power from the Congress party and its allies in Jharkhand, a state rich in iron ore, coal and other minerals.