NEW DELHI - India’s ruling nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was leading in three of four states in key regional polls on Sunday, indicating a big boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of general elections in six months.

The heartland states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and the southern state of Telangana, voted last month in the last set of provincial elections before the national vote due by May when Modi seeks a third term.

BJP was leading in all three heartland states, trends from the counting of votes showed on TV channels.

(Reporting by YP Rajesh, Rupam Jain and Krishn Kaushik; Editing by William Mallard)