How BJP Performed in Assembly Elections Since the Big Sweep in UP

Victory in Bihar would be a big morale booster for the BJP which suffered setbacks in several Assembly elections.

File image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

(Photo: The Quint)

According to the latest leads, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has crossed halfway mark as per EC trends for 238 of 243 seats, leading in 125 seats, in the Bihar Assembly polls. The Tejashwi Yadav-led Mahagathbandhan is ahead in 110 seats.

If this results in a victory, it will be the first big electoral victory for the BJP-led NDA after the landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh. The performance of the party in various elections has been below par, and in two states, they had formed governments by allegedly engineering resignations of opposition MLAs.

Here is a look at the BJP-led NDA’s performance in major state Assembly elections since the big sweep in Uttar Pradesh.

Karnataka

The by-elections to the vacant seats in the Karnataka Assembly will be held on 5 December.(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

The southern state was the next electoral battle for the saffron party, following a big sweep in Uttar Pradesh. The election saw a voter turnout of 72.13 percent – the highest in Karnataka since 1952 Assembly polls.

When the results were declared, the BJP emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats and 36.35 percent vote share. However, they could not form a government after the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) formed an alliance.

BJP was able to return to power a year later, after allegedly engineering resignations of the Congress and JD(S) MLAs, and reducing the state Assembly’s strength.

Rajasthan

The next big state that went to polls was Rajasthan, and here, the BJP was attempting to retain power. In the elections held on 11 December 2018, the Congress party emerged as the single party with 100 out of the 200 seats in the Assembly.

BJP suffered a 6.40 percent drop in its vote share and lost 92 seats in this election.

Madhya Pradesh

In a drastic political development in the state of Madhya Pradesh, eight MLAs of the Congress-led government are allegedly being ‘held against their will’ at a hotel in Gurugram by the BJP, the ruling party has claimed.(Photo: The Quint)

230 Assembly constituencies in the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly were held on 28 November 2018, and once again, the BJP suffered a setback. The election led to a hung Assembly, with the Congress emerging as the single largest party.

The BJP lost 56 seats and 3.86 percent vote share in this election.

The Congress party – the single largest with 114 seats – joined hands with one MLA from the Samajwadi Party's (SP), two MLAs from the Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP), and four Independent MLAs. The government was formed under the leadership of Kamal Nath.

However, the BJP re-employed the tactic they used to topple the government in Karnataka, after 22 Congress MLAs resigned – a move allegedly engineered by the BJP.

Kamal Nath resigned on 20 March 2020 and Shivraj Singh Chouhan of the BJP returned as the Chief Minister.

Chhattisgarh

The election to 90 seats in Chhattisgarh was held in two phases on 12 and 20 November of 2018. The Congress wrested power by winning 68 seats against the ruling BJP's 15 seats. The Congress increased its vote share by 2.71 percent and won 43.0 percent of the total votes.

For the BJP, the drop in the vote share was steep at 8.04 percent and lost 34 seats.

Haryana

The BJP emerged as the single largest party and formed the government in a post-poll alliance with the Jannayak Janta Party and seven Independent MLAs, in the Assembly elections held in Haryana on 21 October 2019.

However, the Congress party increased its vote share by 7.55 percent and the BJP managed an increase of just 3.39 percent. The Congress also increased its seat share by 16 seats.

Maharashtra

288 Assembly seats in Maharashtra went to polls on 21 October 2019, and the BJP hoped to retain power in this western Indian state. When the results came out, National Democratic Alliance (NDA) of the BJP and Shiv Sena (SHS) won a majority. However, this alliance was dissolved because Shiv Sena was not happy with the power sharing.

On 23 November 2019, Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the Chief Minister and NCP’s Ajit Pawar as the Deputy Chief Minister.

However, they had to resign after Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress formed the government under a new alliance Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), with Uddhav Thackeray as the Chief Minister.

Jharkhand

The elections to 81 seats in Jharkhand were held from 30 November to 20 December in 2019. In this election, too, the incumbent BJP lost the elections. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA), consisting of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal, won 47 out of the 81 seats.

The BJP managed only 25 losing 12 seats compared to the previous elections.

Following the election, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Hemant Soren was sworn in as the Chief Minister.

New Delhi

In the Legislative Assembly elections held on 8 February 2020, the BJP hoped for a victory. They hoped that voter polarisation, following the anti-CAA protests and violence in the various universities, would work in their favour. However, the result saw a landslide in the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) favour.

AAP won 62 seats to claim an absolute majority in the elections.

Although the BJP managed to increase its vote share by 6.21 percent, it did not affect the AAP’s vote share and out of the 70 seats the BJP won only 8.