Hindu Nationalists Post Victory in Troubled State
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Capitalizing on communal and anti-Muslim passions, hard-line Hindu nationalists won elections in western India’s riot-torn Gujarat state.
The Bharatiya Janata Party won 125 of 182 seats in the legislature, an increase of eight seats.
The victory appeared to vindicate an electoral strategy that played heavily on Hindu anger toward Muslims after riots killed more than 1,000 people this year, most of them Muslims. It also raised fears among secular-minded Indians that the party will adopt a similar approach in national elections in 2004.
Two men were killed during victory celebrations.
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