BJP has come to power in 6 states in 2 years of Narendra Modi's rule
A big difference between the BJP of the Vajpayee-Advani era with that of the times of Narendra Modi is the focus on the mission of achieving a "Congress-Mukt Bharat".
It is not that the BJP had not eyed to topple the Congress in the past for its growth in the country has been dependent on the Congress's fall but in the age of Modi, the BJP speaks about its goal more assertively. The saffron party's mission hasn't ended with coming to power at the Centre with a single majority in 2014.
It now eyes to get the entire country rid of the grand-old party and both PM Modi and his lieutenant Amit Shah stress this point whenever they get an opportunity. [States ruled by BJP and Congress now]
BJP has seriously inched towards executing mission 'Congress-Mukt Bharat'
That the slogan is not just a show business has also been proved by the BJP led by Modi and Shah. After coming to power at the Centre, the BJP has come to power in as many as six states of the Union---alone of jointly---and at the expense of the Congress.
Congress could return the favour in only state -- Bihar
The Congress could return the favour in just one state and that is in Bihar.
BJP won in Maharashtra, Haryana, J&K, Jharkhand, Assam in last 2 years
Following the Lok Sabha election which it swept by winning 282 seats, the BJP won Maharashtra, where it formed government with the Shiv Sena, and Haryana, where it came to power alone.
A few months later, it reproduced the same performance in Jammu and Kashmir where it formed the government with the People's Democratic Party and Jharkhand where it came to power on its own. In 2016, the BJP formed its first government in Assam in alliance with the Asom Gana Parishad and Bodo People's Front.
BJP's good show in 5 Assembly elections between 2014-16 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
State | Total seats | BJP's seats (won in last election) | vote-share % (last election) | BJP seats (in previous election) | vote-share (previous election) |
Maharashtra | 288 | 122 | 28.1 | 46 | 14 |
Haryana | 90 | 47 | 33.3 | 04 | 09 |
Jammu & Kashmir | 87 | 25 | 23.2 | 11 | 12.4 |
Jharkhand | 81 | 37 | 31.8 | 18 | 20.1 |
Assam | 126 | 60 | 29.5 | 5 | 11.5 |
Andhra* | 175 | 4 | 2.2 | 2 (294 seats) | 2.8 |
* The BJP came to power in Andhra Pradesh in 2014 after the first Assembly election held post the state's bifurcation. It came along with the TDP as the bigger ally.
The story in Arunachal was not so democratic; however, BJP still won it
In Arunachal Pradesh, dissident Congress leader Kalikho Pul formed the government earlier this year with the BJP's support after defections saw the reigning Congress government of Nabam Tuki getting reduced into minority.
The BJP, however, hasn't been successful against regional opponents in 2 years
In all of these states, the BJP replaced the Congress (alone or in alliance) to come to governance, proving that it has gradually gained strength in the all-India scenario under Modi's leadership.
However, BJP is yet to defeat a regional party
However, the fact that the BJP has toppled the Congress in six states also drive home the point that the party has not been able to do the same against regional parties. In the first two years of the Modi era, the party has also bitten the dust against opponents like Arvind Kejriwal (Delhi), Lalu Prasad-Nitish Kumar (Bihar), Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal) and Jayalalithaa (Tamil Nadu). Of the 841 seats that went to the polls in these states in 2015-16, the BJP has won only 59. [Why Modi's claim 'BJP's ideology has been accepted' is wrong]
In Kerala, the party though opened its account for the first time, but the presence of the Left prevented it from benefiting much from the Congress's loss.