NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) looks set to secure a historic first-ever term in West Bengal on Monday, as votes are being counted for the state assembly polls held in two phases on April 23 and 29.According to the Election Commission’s website, BJP candidates have won or are leading in over 190 of the state’s 294 constituencies, putting the party on course for a landslide win. The ruling Trinamool Congress, meanwhile, is headed for defeat, bringing its 15-year stint in power to an end.The results come almost exactly two years after the BJP’s Lok Sabha strength dipped, with its seat count falling to 240 from 303. In West Bengal, its tally declined from a record 18 parliamentary constituencies in 2019 to 12.Counting for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was held on June 4 that year.How did the BJP engineer the turnaround?HaryanaThe turnaround began in Haryana, which went to the polls in October 2024. Confronting a decade of anti-incumbency, the BJP replaced Manohar Lal Khattar with Nayab Singh Saini as chief minister in March. Despite the Congress being widely seen as the frontrunner for a comeback, the BJP won 48 seats to the Congress’s 37 in the 90-member assembly.In the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP and the Congress had split all 10 seats in the state, with the BJP’s tally dropping by five.MaharashtraMaharashtra, which went to the polls in October 2024, saw the BJP-led Mahayuti register a sweeping victory. The ruling alliance won 235 of the state’s 288 assembly constituencies, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi was reduced to just 50 seats.In the Lok Sabha elections, the INDIA bloc had won 30 of Maharashtra’s 48 seats, with the Mahayuti managing only 17.DelhiIn Delhi, the BJP returned to power after 27 years, ousting the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and ending the Arvind Kejriwal-led party’s 12-year run in February last year. After winning just three seats in 2015 and eight in 2020, the BJP surged to 48 in the 70-member assembly, dislodging the AAP, which had swept the previous two elections.In the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had swept all seven Delhi constituencies for a third consecutive time.BiharFinally, in Bihar, which went to the polls in November 2025, the BJP emerged as the largest party in the state for the first time, overtaking ally JD(U). In another landslide for the NDA, the alliance won 202 of the state’s 243 seats, while the opposition Mahagathbandhan was reduced to just 35.The NDA holds 30 of Bihar’s 40 parliamentary seats and the INDIA bloc nine.In another first for the BJP, the state now has its first chief minister from the party, with Samrat Choudhary succeeding Nitish Kumar, who moved to the Rajya Sabha on April 10 after leading the state for over two decades.
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