Changing colours of India 2014-2022: States ruled by BJP, Congress

New Delhi, Dec 11: The BJP came in 2014 and conquered. By March 2018, the BJP was home to 70 per cent Indians.

In March, 21 states were BJP ruled. It had won big in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana. Later it went on to hand the CPM a crushing defeat in Tripura apart from placing itself in a pivotal position in Nagaland. The party was in power in 21 seats either by itself or as part of an alliance.

The achievement for the BJP was considered to be huge as no party had held such a big footprint. However, the dynamic changed considerably with the BJP losing three of the states it had held.

The party faced defeats in the Hindi heartland and lost power to the Congress in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. It must also be noted that the BJP pulled out of the government in Jammu and Kashmir, which led to the spread being reduced further.

In 2021
The saffron party emerged victorious in assembly polls in Assam and Puducherry while giving a fight in West Bengal where the BJP has tried to wrest power from the TMC led by Mamata Banerjee.

In 2022
The party won the Goa, UP and Manipur in the assembly polls held in February 2022. The BJP suffered a setback after Nitesh Kumar ended the alliance with the BJP and rejoined Mahagatbhandan. However, it came to power in Maharashtra after Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction decided to break Maha Vikas Aghadi government which was led by Uddhav Thackeray.

Later in the year, the BJP emerged victorious in Gujarat polls for the record seventh consecutive time while losing Himachal Pradesh.

As on December 2022, the BJP is in power in 16 states/union territories out of which it has a majority in ten states. In six states, it is running a coalition government.

In 2014, when Narendra Modi had come to power, the BJP ruled just 7 states. The Congress on the other hand which held 13 states in 2014 came down to six in 2022.