India’s ruling Hindu nationalists make Kashmir poll gains

SRINAGAR, India, Dec 23 (AFP): Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party made significant gains in the restive Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday, extending its grip on the country after a landslide general election victory in May.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) more than doubled its seats in the 87-member state parliament and was for the first time in with a real chance of being part of the next coalition government.

With 25 seats, the BJP is now the second largest force in the state parliament after the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) -- a feat unthinkable just a year ago.

That is still well short of its stated goal of wresting power on its own in the disputed Himalayan region, where rebel groups have been fighting Indian rule since 1989.

The PDP, part of a coalition that ruled the state during a period of relative peace between 2002 and 2008, is likely to form the next government in coalition with other groups.

Both the BJP and the PDP benefited from widespread public discontent over the state's ruling National Conference party's handling of devastating September floods that killed over 200 people in Kashmir.

Votes were still being counted in the insurgency-racked and impoverished central state of Jharkhand, which had also held elections, with the BJP on course to win a majority.