New Delhi:
The Narendra Modi-led BJP government took over the reign of the country from Manmohan Singh’s decade-long rule on May 26, 2014 after the party's landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP had won a decisive mandate with 282 seats on its own, whereas the NDA reached the peak of 336 seats. This was the first time since 1984 that any party was able to muster a majority on its own. The party was ruling just 7 states along with its allies in 2014 namely, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Nagaland. The Congress was ruling Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Kerala, Assam, Karnataka, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Andhra Pradesh at that time. The other parties were in power in Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura and Sikkim.
In 2014, the BJP had repeated its Lok Sabha poll performance in the Assembly elections of Haryana, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand. The party had routed the Congress and the INLD in Haryana and formed the government in the state for the first time. It had also emerged as the single largest party in Maharashtra and Devendra Fadnavis became the first BJP chief minister of the state. The saffron party along with its ally AJSU snatched away Jharkhand from JMM and Congress. In Jammu and Kashmir, the party won 25 seats and received the maximum vote share in the entire state. The number of BJP-ruled states (with allies) rose to 12 in 2014. In 2015, the BJP lost elections in Delhi and Bihar. In Bihar, the NDA was completely decimated by Nitish Kumar's 'Grand Alliance' with Lalu Prasad's RJD and Congress.
In 2016, the BJP was able to grab Assam and formed its first government in the state under the leadership of Sarbananda Sonowal. The party, however, lost badly in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Puducherry elections. In 2017, the BJP reached the peak of its popularity after the victories in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand elections. It had also formed the governments in Goa and Manipur even when the Congress was the single largest party in both the states. The NDA though lost Punjab. Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar broke his alliance with Lalu and returned to the NDA fold. In November-December 2017, the BJP mauled the Congress in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. The number of BJP-ruled states (with allies) rose to 18 in 2017. Also Read: These 11 parties left PM Narendra Modi since 2014 Lok Sabha elections | BJP set to lose these many Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh in 2019, click here to know
The BJP began 2018 with 19 states in its kitty. It was ruling Jammu and Kashmir (with PDP), Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Goa, Maharashtra (with Shiv Sena), Andhra Pradesh (TDP), Bihar (JDU), Sikkim (SDF), Nagaland (NPF). The Congress was in power in just 5 states: Punjab, Karnataka, Puducherry, Mizoram and Meghalaya.
Later, the Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP withdrew from the NDA but the BJP continued its winning streak in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland.
In May 2018, the BJP became the single largest party in Karnataka and formed its government that lasted for 2 days.
In June 2018, the party decided to part its ways with the Mehbooba Mufti-led government in Jammu and Kashmir leading to Governor's Rule in the state.
In November, the TDP joined hands with the Congress party in Telangana. The alliance is also likely to take shape in Andhra Pradesh.
In December, the BJP lost miserably in Hindi heartland states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Now, the BJP and its allies are ruling 17 states in the country. The MNF in Mizoram is also a part of the NDA and NEDA.
