21 states, 72% of India: How BJP achieved peak dominance
From just seven states in 2014 to 21 today, governing territories home to 72% of India’s population, victories in West Bengal and Assam bring BJP to a level of federal reach once achieved by the Congress under Indira Gandhi
On the night of 4 May, as Bharatiya Janata Party supporters celebrated what Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called a "historic victory", the significance of the moment stretched far beyond the electoral map of West Bengal. BJP had not only breached one of the last major opposition fortresses in India; it had also returned to a position of federal dominance unseen in decades.
With victories in West Bengal and Assam, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) now governs 21 states and Union Territories. It is a figure loaded with political symbolism. The number matches the alliance's short-lived peak in 2018 and equals the federal reach once achieved by the Congress under Indira Gandhi in the late 1970s.
But the scale of the present dominance is perhaps even more striking in demographic terms. Today, BJP and its allies govern territories home to roughly 72% of India's 1.4 billion people. Twelve years ago, when Modi first became Prime Minister in 2014, BJP ruled only seven states.
The rise from seven to 21 is the story of the most sustained political expansion in contemporary Indian politics.
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The geography of this dominance is difficult to ignore. From Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh, the NDA's footprint stretches across most of the Indian Union. The Ganges itself now flows almost entirely through BJP or NDA-governed territory, beginning in Uttarakhand, moving through Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, before reaching the Bay of Bengal in West Bengal's Ganga Sagar.
That continuity reflects a decade-long political project that expanded methodically from the Hindi heartland into regions once considered inaccessible to BJP.
The first phase came through consolidation in northern and western India after Modi's landslide national victory in 2014. The second phase involved the northeast, where the BJP relied on alliances, organisational work and aggressive campaigning to erode Congress dominance.
The third phase has been the most consequential, breaking into powerful regional strongholds such as Maharashtra, Odisha and now West Bengal.
For decades, West Bengal appeared politically untouchable for BJP. The state had moved from Congress rule to 34 uninterrupted years of Left Front governance before Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC) displaced the communists in 2011. Yet on 4 May, BJP won 207 seats in the 294-member assembly, reducing the TMC to 80 legislators.
"The lotus has bloomed in West Bengal," Modi declared on social media, referring to the BJP's election symbol. He described the result as a triumph of "good governance".
In West Bengal, Muslims constitute nearly 27% of the population. The last largely escaped the scale of communal violence seen elsewhere in India for decades. It remained relatively peaceful during the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 and the unrest following the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992.
West Bengal has long occupied a central place in India's political imagination, from the Battle of Plassey and British colonial consolidation to the partition of Bengal in 1905, which sharpened communal political identities across the subcontinent. It was also the home of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, founder of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh — the ideological predecessor of the BJP.
Addressing party workers after the result, Modi said the victory "would bring peace to his soul".
BJP's rise in West Bengal was not built only on symbolism or history. A convergence of anti-incumbency, organisational discipline and highly targeted campaigning is the reason.
Ronojoy Sen, senior research fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies in Singapore, said in an interview with CNA that, "The anti-incumbents combined with the BJP's formidable electoral machinery and planning at both the central level as well as at the micro level, resulted in this extraordinary victory for the BJP in Bengal."
The campaign itself focused heavily on women's safety, allegations of corruption against the TMC government, unemployment and the politically charged issue of illegal immigration from Bangladesh. BJP leaders, including Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, repeatedly referred to "Bangladeshi infiltrators" during rallies.
During an electoral campaign rally, Suvendu Adhikari stated, "I will not allow even a single Bangladeshi Muslim to remain here," a remark that is described as deeply anti-Muslim and reflective of growing communal rhetoric in regional politics.
The election also generated more controversy. The Election Commission of India faced accusations from opposition parties and watchdogs over voter roll revisions. According to the Kolkata-based SABAR Institute, approximately 2.7 million names were deleted from electoral rolls in West Bengal, with Muslims allegedly disproportionately affected.
Political commentator Yogendra Yadav wrote in the Indian Express that the "deletions amounted to 4.3% of votes cast in a contest where the BJP's lead over the TMC was roughly 5%. The question is inescapable. If these 27 lakh persons were allowed to vote, how would it have affected the outcome?"
Beyond the disputes and allegations lies a larger political reality: the BJP has succeeded in converting electoral setbacks into organisational recalibration.
Its current dominance did not emerge in a straight line. BJP first reached the 21-state mark in early 2018. At that stage, it appeared politically unstoppable. But the momentum quickly collapsed.
In December that year, the Congress defeated BJP in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. Within months, the NDA's tally fell to 16 states. By 2020, after further losses and the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic, the alliance governed only 13 states.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, BJP won 240 seats, down from the 303 it secured in 2019, and fell short of a parliamentary majority on its own for the first time in a decade. Though the NDA retained power with 293 seats and Modi began a third term, the aura of invincibility had faded.
Instead of retreating, the BJP reorganised.
Former party president JP Nadda and Amit Shah reportedly shifted focus away from broad national messaging towards granular state-level politics. Booth workers were retrained. Campaigns became more localised. Alliance management improved in states where the BJP lacked independent strength.
The results followed steadily. Maharashtra, Haryana, Bihar and Odisha returned to the NDA fold. By February 2026, the alliance governed 19 states and two Union Territories. The victories in Assam and West Bengal completed the climb back to 21.
Assam, in particular, illustrated BJP's ability to consolidate rather than merely expand. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma secured a second consecutive term with 102 seats in the 126-member assembly.
But Assam also demonstrates the ideological tensions accompanying BJP's rise. Sarma campaigned aggressively against what he called "Illegal Bangladeshi Muslims", promising to "Break the backbones" of infiltrators.
His government has overseen evictions, demolitions and controversial delimitation exercises that critics argue weakened Muslim political representation.
BJP's model of governance in Assam has therefore become both an electoral success story for supporters and a warning sign for critics worried about growing religious polarisation.
These concerns are now in West Bengal, where Muslims constitute nearly 27% of the population. For decades, West Bengal largely escaped the scale of communal violence seen elsewhere in India. It remained relatively peaceful during the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 and the unrest following the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992.
Whether that political culture survives under BJP rule remains one of the main questions emerging from this election.
The anti-incumbents combined with the BJP's formidable electoral machinery and planning at both the central level as well as at the micro level, resulted in this extraordinary victory for the BJP in Bengal.
BJP insists its governance model is developmental rather than divisive. Modi reiterated after the victory that the party's "Double-engine government", meaning the same party ruling both state and Centre, would ensure "Equal opportunities and respect for all sections of society".
The concept of the "Double-engine government" has become a highlight to the BJP's electoral messaging. The party claims that administrative alignment between Delhi and BJP-governed states accelerates welfare delivery, infrastructure development and policy implementation.
There is evidence that such coordination has strengthened the BJP electorally. State governments control policing, healthcare, education, agriculture and infrastructure, areas that directly affect everyday life. BJP has repeatedly converted visible delivery in these sectors into electoral political capital.
At the same time, governing 21 states brings immense political risk.
Each state represents a separate arena of accountability. BJP's own experience in 2018 showed how quickly electoral momentum can reverse. A coalition spread across a vast geography also remains dependent on allies.
Unlike Indira Gandhi's Congress, which exercised dominance through a highly centralised structure, the NDA still relies on regional partners such as the JD(U) in Bihar, the TDP in Andhra Pradesh and multiple northeastern allies.
15 of the 21 governments are led by the BJP independently. The remaining 6 depend on coalition arithmetic.
The south, meanwhile, remains resistant terrain. Kerala has once again voted in a Congress-led alliance, while Tamil Nadu delivered one of the most dramatic results in recent Indian politics.
Actor Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), formed only two years ago, won 108 seats and broke the long-standing dominance of the DMK and AIADMK-led political order.
Despite decades of effort, BJP still lacks meaningful influence in both Tamil Nadu and Kerala, even though its vote share has gradually risen. Yet none of these limitations diminishes the scale of what the BJP has achieved.
From seven states in 2014 to 21 today, the party has built the broadest federal coalition in India since the Congress system began weakening in the late 1960s. BJP is an election machine aided by unmatched organisational discipline and financial resources.
According to the Association for Democratic Reforms, BJP reported an income of $712 million in 2025, compared to approximately $96 million for the Congress. Writer Arundhati Roy once described Indian elections under such conditions as "A race between a Ferrari and a bicycle".
For supporters, however, the victories demonstrate resilience and political adaptability. Even after setbacks in the 2024 national election, the BJP rebuilt state by state instead of collapsing under anti-incumbency pressures.
