Maharashtra, Haryana to go to polls Oct. 15, chance for Modi gains

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Maharashtra and Haryana will go to the polls on Oct. 15, the Election Commission said on Friday, offering Prime Minister Narendra Modi the chance to chalk up gains after his general election triumph in May. The bigger prize is Maharashtra, which has a population of 114 million and is home to India's financial capital, Mumbai. Haryana, to the west of capital New Delhi, has a population of 25 million. Both states have chief ministers from the opposition Congress party that was routed by Modi in the general election, when his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the strongest lower-house mandate in India in three decades. The BJP and its allies in the National Democratic Alliance are, however, in the minority in the upper house, or Rajya Sabha, where India's 29 states are represented. That means that, even if Modi makes gains in Maharashtra and Haryana, he will still have to cut deals with opposition and regional parties to pass some reforms. The elections come as the term of the state legislatures is expiring. Results are due on Oct. 19. (Reporting by Douglas Busvine; editing by Malini Menon)