From Haryana to West Bengal – how PM Modi widened BJP’s footprint since 2014 | India Information
NEW DELHI: After Congress misplaced seven states in 1967, a preferred saying went that one might journey by prepare from Delhi to Howrah with out passing by means of a single Congress-ruled state.Almost six a long time later, Bharatiya Janata Occasion has turned the saying on its head with one other saying {that a} journey from Chandigarh in Haryana to Howrah would now move solely by means of BJP-ruled states.After an awesome victory in West Bengal on Might 4, Suvendu Adhikari took oath as chief minister, giving the BJP its first authorities within the state and marking the ninth state the place the get together has put in a first-time BJP chief minister since Narendra Modi turned Prime Minister in 2014.
BJP’s enlargement started with victories within the Haryana and Maharashtra meeting elections in 2014, adopted by Assam and Arunachal Pradesh in 2016, Manipur in 2017, Tripura in 2018, Odisha in 2024, Bihar in 2026 and now West Bengal.
In Haryana, BJP shaped a authorities by itself for the primary time and appointed Manohar Lal Khattar as chief minister.In Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis turned state’s first BJP chief minister after the get together emerged because the single-largest get together within the meeting elections and shaped the federal government with allies within the Mahayuti alliance.BJP expanded its footprint within the Northeast in 2016 by successful Assam, the place Sarbananda Sonowal turned the get together’s first chief minister within the state.Since then, BJP has retained energy in Assam, successful two consecutive meeting elections afterward, together with the one held in April.The identical yr, BJP shaped its first full-fledged authorities in Arunachal Pradesh following a serious political realignment.In July 2016, Congress chief Pema Khandu turned chief minister amid a protracted political disaster. Two months later, he and a majority of Congress MLAs joined Folks’s Occasion of Arunachal, an ally of BJP.In December that yr, Khandu and 33 MLAs switched to BJP, giving the get together a transparent majority and its first secure authorities within the state.BJP had earlier briefly headed a authorities in Arunachal Pradesh in 2003 beneath former chief minister Gegong Apang. Apang had give up Congress and joined BJP, however his authorities lasted solely 44 days earlier than he returned to the Congress.
In 2017, BJP stitched collectively a post-poll alliance with Nationwide Folks’s Occasion, Naga Folks’s Entrance and regional events in Manipur to put in N Biren Singh as chief minister, marking the get together’s first authorities within the border state.A yr later, BJP ended the Left Entrance’s decades-long rule in Tripura and shaped its maiden authorities beneath Biplab Kumar Deb.The get together registered one other main breakthrough in jap India in 2024 by defeating Biju Janata Dal in Odisha. Mohan Charan Majhi then took oath because the BJP’s first chief minister within the state, ending Naveen Patnaik’s uninterrupted 24-year tenure.Additionally learn: BJP’s Bharat Jodo Yatra: From 7 to 22 states, how BJP redrew India’s political mapIn Bihar, the place BJP had lengthy been a part of coalition governments led by Nitish Kumar, the get together didn’t have its personal chief minister till 2026.Nitish, who served a number of phrases as chief minister over twenty years with transient interruptions, stepped down earlier this yr and moved to Rajya Sabha. Following his departure, BJP appointed Samrat Choudhary because the get together’s first chief minister within the state.
With its victory in West Bengal, BJP has now shaped a authorities in one other state lengthy thought-about politically elusive for the get together. BJP received 207 out of 294 meeting seats.The get together’s rise throughout jap and northeastern India has additionally mirrored a bigger political shift over the previous decade. As soon as seen largely as a Hindi-heartland power, BJP has steadily expanded into areas the place it traditionally had little organisational presence, benefiting from a mixture of organisational progress, welfare outreach, management projection and the decline or fragmentation of opposition events.BJP nationwide spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla stated the get together’s enlargement beneath Prime Minister Modi mirrored its governance mannequin and growing public acceptance.“Below Prime Minister Modi’s management, the BJP and NDA have repeatedly expanded their political footprint throughout India on the premise of governance, efficiency and supply. States that by no means had a BJP authorities or BJP chief minister earlier have elected BJP governments after Modi turned prime minister,” he stated.“Prime Minister Modi has now change into synonymous with pro-incumbency. In latest elections, BJP-NDA governments in states like Assam and Puducherry have been voted again to energy, whereas governments in a number of opposition-ruled states have confronted anti-incumbency,” he added.With West Bengal now added to its tally, the BJP’s rise marks probably the most important political expansions in post-Independence India — remodeling the get together from a largely Hindi-heartland power right into a dominant pan-India political machine.
