Washington: With Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) registering a stupendous victory in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Assembly elections, top US experts on India believe that Prime Minister Narendra Modi s the favourite to win the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Adam Ziegfeld, Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the George Washington University said, the Assembly elections do not signal much of a change. The Uttar Pradesh election results showed that the 2014 general elections were not an "aberration".
While giving his opinion on PM Modi, Sadanand Dhume, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute said, Assembly election results show that PM Modi has been established as the "clear and favourite winner" for the 2019 elections.
However, Irfan Nooruddin, a professor at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at the Georgetown University believes that BJP will fall short of getting a majority in 2019 General Elections and PM Modi would head a coalition government.
Dhume who was in Uttar Pradesh during the elections further said that BJP is beatable if the Opposition comes together, adding that the party gains where it faces a fragmented opposition and in 2019.
"Demonetisation is extremely popular. Indian people who have suffered themselves in the wake of the policy, it won their heart and mind. Here is this man of sincerity who struck a principled blow to corrupt and the rich," Dhume said referring to his conversation with people in the state.
(With PTI inputs)
