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India’s ruling party expanded its control to nearly two thirds of the country’s states, strengthening Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bid to extend his decade in office in nationwide elections in coming months.

The Bharatiya Janata Party either outright or as a coalition member now governs 17 of India’s 28 states after adding the eastern region of Bihar into its fold this weekend. The states have a total population of 720.6 million and account for about 55.24% of the 543 lawmaker seats in parliament.

Control at the state level doesn’t necessarily mean voters will support the BJP in national elections. However, it does bolster the ruling party’s chances, especially with the opposition alliance — known by the acronym I.N.D.I.A. and created last year to dent Modi’s popularity — now weakened by the latest developments in Bihar.

“It’s taken the wind out of the sails of the I.N.D.I.A. alliance,” said Neerja Chowdhury, an author and political columnist. “The I.N.D.I.A. alliance was a bit like a house of cards and if you remove one card, the whole thing comes crashing down.”

The other 11 states not in the BJP’s control are ruled by regional parties or the Indian National Congress, the country’s main opposition party.

The latest developments in Bihar saw the chief minister of the state, notorious for switching political sides, dissolving the opposition-led government to join forces with Modi’s party. There are other cracks in the opposition alliance as well, with some parties seeking to contest elections on their own in some states.

The Election Commission of India is expected to announce the dates for the polls in coming weeks, with voting likely to take place around April and May. More than 945 million registered voters will be heading to the polls to elect the 543 lawmakers to the lower house of the Indian parliament. In the 2019 vote, about 614 million people voted out of 911 million who registered.

The BJP won 303 of the parliamentary seats in the 2019 national elections, crossing the halfway mark of 272 comfortably on its own. At the end of its term, the party currently holds a total of 290 seats or 55.45% of the sitting house. With Bihar’s switch, the BJP and its allies govern states with a total number of 300 seats.

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