NEW DELHI (AP) — Hindu nationalists won a resounding victory Thursday in state elections in western India, buttressing the political strength of Narendra Modi, the Hindu ideologue and polarizing figure whose supporters believe could become prime minister in 2014.

With almost all results counted, news reports from Gujarat state, where Modi has served as the state’s chief minister since 2001, gave his right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party 115 seats in the state assembly, two less than the 117 seats in the last election. Its closest rival, the Congress party, took 60 seats, one more than it held before.

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