Following the victory of 2 BJP members contesting for the state assembly from Assam, the strength of the BJP in the state assembly has touched 100. It is noteworthy that the strength of the Congress and BJP states has not touched 100 for the last 30 years.
Despite winning the Lok Sabha elections twice in a row, the BJP does not have a majority in the states. However, with the support of parties like the Biju Janata Dal and the YSR Congress, the central government is passing key bills at the state level.
In this context, the BJP is projected to capture one seat in the recent two-member state assembly elections in Assam, based on the number of legislators. But the BJP has taken second place, diverting many legislators from the Congress party to their side. Apart from this, the BJP has won one seat each from Nagaland, Himachal Pradesh and Tripura. Following this, the party currently has 100 members at the state level.
Although the BJP still does not have a majority in the 245-member state assembly, it has now emerged as the only party with 100 members in thirty years. It is noteworthy that despite the Congress-led coalition government led by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, that coalition does not have a majority in the states. As early as 1990, the Congress party had 108 members in the state legislature. Following the gradual conquest of various Congress-ruled states by the BJP, the strength of the Congress party continues to erode across the states.
Following the end of the term of 72 members of the state legislature this year, work is underway to select new members. Five candidates, including Aam Aadmi Party cricketer Harbhajan Singh, have been elected to the state assembly in Punjab. While the BJP previously had only one member in the state of Punjab, no one has now been elected to the state assembly on behalf of the party. At the same time, the number of BJP-elected state assembly members is increasing in other states.
In Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Uttarakhand and Goa, the chances of BJP candidates winning in these states have increased as they have won assembly elections and returned to power. In particular, it is predicted that the BJP will capture the eight vacant seats in the 11 state assembly constituencies elected as Uttar Pradesh retirees this year, with the remaining three in the hands of the Samajwadi Party. The BJP, which had only 55 state assembly members in 2014, is expected to almost double its strength by the end of this year. The growing number of states will also help the BJP win the presidential and vice-presidential elections.
In the case of Tamil Nadu, the DMK and its allies continue to increase their state-level strength.
With AIADMK members Navaneethakrishnan, SR Balasubramaniam and Vijayakumar retiring this year, it is expected that only two state assembly members will be elected from Tamil Nadu on behalf of the AIADMK. At the same time, with the DMK’s three state councilors retiring, four members of the party will be newly elected to the state councils.
– Ganapati Subramaniam.