24 December 2019 11:55 am
India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has lost control of the eastern state of Jharkhand, which made headlines in the past few years for a series of mob lynchings - mostly over cows, an animal considered sacred by some Hindus, Al Jazeera reported.
The results of the state assembly polls declared on Monday, showed a pre-election alliance of the regional Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the Indian National Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) winning 47 of the 81 seats.
The BJP, which ruled the state since 2014, won 25 seats, according to the Jharkhand state's election commission.
The Hindu nationalist BJP's loss of a state it has ruled since 2014 is being seen as a setback for the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.