THREE years ago Narendra Modi led his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to the most resounding victory in a national election in India since the 1980s. This week, in India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, the BJP capped that by chalking up the biggest majority in the state assembly since 1977 (see article). The result leaves Mr Modi and his party utterly dominant—and almost certain to win the national elections in 2019. It is also a test. Mr Modi could use his growing power to reignite India’s culture wars, as some of his supporters wish. Instead, he ought to use it to unshackle India’s economy.

Lucknow and for a long time to come

Until the 1970s India was virtually a one-party state, with Congress, the party of independence, ruling over politics—including in Uttar Pradesh. Today the country seems to be heading that way again, but this time with the BJP in the ascendant. Congress came out on top this week in elections in Punjab, a middling state. In places such as West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, local parties rule the roost. And the BJP’s adversaries can still win by teaming up. But in a country of unfathomable diversity, the BJP is as close to pre-eminence as any party is likely to get.

In Uttar Pradesh the BJP’s victory was all the more remarkable for the turmoil Mr Modi unleashed late last year by voiding most of India’s banknotes. “Demonetisation” was meant to hurt crooks and bring the “black” economy onto the books. Instead it caused chaos for ordinary Indians. Yet somehow, the BJP turned the straw of demonetisation into electoral gold.

The charisma and drive of Mr Modi is part of the explanation. The son of a chai-wallah, he embodies the aspirations of India’s strivers. But the energy and organisation of his party count, too. The BJP’s appetite for power is matched only by the opposition’s deficiencies. In this week’s elections Congress won most seats in Goa and Manipur, two tiny states. But the BJP, quicker to woo allies, won the right to form governments.

In some ways this dominance is alarming. Although Mr Modi himself is careful about what he says, his party harbours many chauvinistic Hindus, who view India’s 180m-odd Muslims with suspicion and disdain. It did not field a single Muslim candidate in Uttar Pradesh, where 19% of the population is Muslim. It also took advantage of the elections to pass legislation that had been blocked by the upper house of the national parliament on the ground that it was unfair to Muslims (see article). Mr Modi has done nothing to stifle a growing culture of intolerance in India, not just towards Muslims, but towards all critics of the prickly nationalism that the BJP espouses.

Yet he has also pressed ahead with economic reforms. He has won parliamentary approval for a nationwide sales tax to replace a confusing array of local ones. The government is improving the administration of India’s bewildering bunch of welfare schemes for the poor. And demonetisation, for all its failings, at least shows that Mr Modi is willing to take bold steps in his eagerness to overhaul the Indian economy.

He should put that eagerness, and his thumping electoral mandate, to better use. The complexity of buying and selling land strangles development. State-owned firms, including huge, badly run banks, should be in private hands. The economy, which is growing by about 7% a year, will one day hit the buffers unless India’s education system is overhauled.

The BJP’s defenders argue that none of this is feasible, because the upper house of the national parliament is in opposition hands. That is a feeble excuse and, in any case, will change as state assemblies, which elect the upper house, fall to the BJP. Mr Modi has an extraordinary opportunity to act boldly for the good of all India. He should grasp it.