NEW DELHI (CNN) — India’s Hindu nationalist party appears on track for a decisive victory in three out of four state elections held on Sunday, as reported by the election commission’s website. The high-stakes poll has set India’s opposition against the ruling party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the lead-up to next year’s pivotal national vote.

Ballot counting reveals that Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is positioned to gain control of the states of Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan from the Indian National Congress, the country’s primary opposition party. Additionally, the BJP is anticipated to secure re-election in Madhya Pradesh for an unprecedented fifth term.

The Congress is comfortably leading in Telangana state, governed by the influential Telangana Rashtra Samithi, known for its opposition to the bjp in the state.

Final results are expected to be announced later on Sunday.

Vote counting in a fifth state, Mizoram, is scheduled for Monday, where the BJP’s regional ally, the Mizo National Front, currently holds power.

Elections in the five states took place last month, with over 160 million people, constituting one-sixth of India’s electorate, eligible to cast their votes. Due to the country’s large population, polling in india is typically conducted in phases.

Modi expressed gratitude to voters for “their unwavering support” in the states where his party is leading.

“The results in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan indicate that the people of India firmly support the politics of good governance and development, principles which the @BJP4India stands for,” Modi conveyed on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Congress, acknowledged defeat in the three states where his party is trailing. “The battle of ideology will continue,” he stated on X, expressing gratitude to the people of Telangana, where his party is winning.

BJP supporters celebrated the anticipated victory across the country. In some locations, they danced wearing masks resembling Modi, distributed sweets, and exchanged colors in a mark of jubilation.

At the BJP headquarters in New Delhi on Sunday evening, activists lined up on both sides as Modi walked between them, waving. The activists showered him with flower petals, chanting “Long live Mother India” and other slogans.

In a later speech, Modi declared the results as “historic and unprecedented,” labeling them “a victory for honesty, transparency, and good governance.”

Modi and his party maintain popularity on a national level after nearly a decade in power, and surveys suggest he is poised to secure a third consecutive term in 2024. However, a new alliance of 28 opposition parties, called INDIA, is expected to pose a challenge to Modi’s party at the national level. The acronym, which stands for Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, includes India’s previously fragmented opposition parties and is led by the Congress.

Both the Indian premier and Congress leader Gandhi extensively campaigned across the five states to garner voter support before the election. The fervent campaigns witnessed both leaders pledging subsidies, loan waivers, and employment guarantees to voters.

Modi will seek reelection next year at a time when India’s global diplomatic influence is on the rise. Recent polls, however, show Congress denting his party’s aura of invincibility by toppling local BJP governments in state elections in southern Karnataka and northern Himachal Pradesh.

These elections come at a time when India faces multiple challenges, including rising unemployment, attacks by Hindu nationalists against the country’s minorities—particularly Muslims—and a diminishing space for dissent and free media.