India’s main opposition Congress party has wrested control of the crucial southern Karnataka state from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party. The victory in Karnataka is expected to energize the largely divided opposition that is banking on forming a united front to challenge Modi in next year’s general election in which he will seek his third term. The results will also help prospects of the Congress party, which was routed by Modi’s BJP in the last two national polls and is striving to regain its political prominence nationwide. Karnataka is the second state Modi’s party has lost to the Congress in the last six months. In December, the Congress unseated BJP in northern Himachal Pradesh, a small state tucked in the Himalayas.
