The Hindu nationalist party has won at least 96 seats in Gujarat state elections today, securing control of the state legislature.
At midday local time, the opposition Congress party had won 44 seats in the 181-seat state assembly.
The sweeping win is a great boost to the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Prime Minister Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Elections in 10 states are due next year and national elections must be held before 2004.
The Gujarat BJP victory will be an asset in those elections, especially after its defeat in four state elections this year.
The opposition Congress party accepted defeat.
"People have responded to the BJP's strident Hindu-nationalist campaign," said Mr Shankersinh Vaghela, head of the Congress party in the state where 1,000 people died this year in Hindu-Muslim riots.
"If the Congress has been defeated, we accept the verdict," Mr Vaghela said.
The BJP has governed Gujarat since 1998 and heads India's national coalition government. Critics accused the pro-Hindu party of exploiting differences with minority Muslims to garner support in the troubled western state.
The party's success in a campaign where its leaders told Hindus they had to be protected against the minority Muslims could be seen by the hard-line Hindu supremacists as proof that playing the religion card wins elections.