India's Modi concedes defeat in key state elections

NEW DELHI - India's ruling party lost power in three key states on Tuesday, dealing Prime Minister Narendra Modi his biggest defeat since he took office in 2014 and boosting the opposition ahead of national polls next year.

The results in the rural heartland states of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh could force the federal government run by Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party to raise spending in the countryside, where more than two-thirds of India's 1.3 billion people live.

Political analysts said the BJP's defeat would underscore rural dismay with the government and could help unite the opposition led by the Congress party. Modi is personally popular but has been criticized for failing to deliver jobs for young people and better conditions for farmers.