Trump calls PM Modi, conveys his felicitation on electoral results

New Delhi: U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi and congratulated him on his recent electoral success. "US President HE Mr. @realDonaldTrump called PM @narendramodi to convey his felicitations on the electoral results @POTUS," the Prime Minister’s Office tweeted.

US President HE Mr. @realDonaldTrump called PM @narendramodi to convey his felicitations on the electoral results. @POTUS

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) March 28, 2017

Following the elections held in five states that begun on February 4 and ended on March 9 after polling was rescheduled in some constituencies, Prime Minister Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formed the government in four states: Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. It, however, lost Punjab to the Congress in the results announced on March 11. The BJP returned to power in the politically-crucial state of Uttar Pradesh after a gap of 15 years during which regional parties such as the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) held sway. Goa and Manipur had hung assemblies after the polls, but the BJP managed to form the government with support from other regional parties. Prime Minister Modi was the fifth foreign leader Trump had spoken to on phone after he was sworn-in as the U.S. President on January 20. He had by then spoken to British Prime Minister Theresa May, Canada’s Justin Trudeau, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. After his surprise victory in the November 8 elections in the U.S., Prime Minister Modi was among the first world leaders to congratulate Trump.