The year of BJP’s electoral dominance
New Delhi: With landslide victories in Assembly polls in Delhi and Bihar, the BJP consolidated its electoral dominance in the year 2025, exhibiting its capacity to manage allies and control political narratives.
But, challenges lie ahead for the saffron party as it enters 2026, with Assembly polls due in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.
The BJP returned to power in Delhi after a gap of more than 26 years by decimating the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Assembly polls held in February.
A high decibel campaign by the BJP against the AAP dispensation over alleged corruption, including liquor scam involving Chief Minister Kejriwal and his Cabinet colleagues, and promises of development combined with its meticulous poll strategy helped the saffron party regain power in Delhi.
The year 2025 also saw the BJP blunting the Opposition parties’ anti-OBC and anti-Dalit charge against it with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government announcing that caste enumeration will be part of the next population census.
Months after the making caste enumeration part of the 2027 census, the BJP and its NDA partners, including Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal-United, inflicted a crushing defeat on Rashtriya Janata Dal-led grand alliance in the Bihar Assembly polls in November, where caste equations play a major role in the poll outcomes.
While the NDA registered a landslide victory in the polls, securing 202 seats in the 243-member Bihar Assembly, the BJP emerged as the largest party, winning 89 seats. The Opposition Mahagathbandhan ended up securing just 34 seats with the RJD bagging 25 seats, the Congress six, the CPI(ML) Liberation two and the CPI(M) one seat. The Bihar poll results also weakened the Opposition’s vote-theft charge and allegations against the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Review of the electoral rolls as neither the Congress nor its allies filed any election petition challenging the poll outcome.
The Bihar poll results indicated that the Mahagathbandhan’s fierce campaign against the ruling NDA over the contentious Waqf Amendment Act too failed to garner adequate support from the minority community, which has a significant vote share in the state.
