STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

HOW THE BJP PLOTTED ITS MASSIVE EXPANSION IN THE PAST DECADE USING EVERY TACTIC AND METHOD

GUJARAT

2017- Defections and defeats in bypolls reduce Congress tally to 64 seats from 77 won in 2017 polls; helps BJP win extra seat in 2020 RS polls

MAHARASHTRA

Jun. 2022 40 Shiv Sena MLAs along with 10 others rebel against Uddhav Thackeray govt. BJP returns to power with Eknath Shinde-led Sena faction

GOA

Jul. 2019 10 out of 15 Congress legislators join BJP. Two had joined earlier, as had 2 MGP legislators. Numbers allow BJP to cross majority mark of 20 in the assembly. In March 2022 poll, BJP fell short of a full majority on its own by one seat

UTTARAKHAND

Mar. 2016 9 Congress MLAs rebel against then Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat. Briefly, President’s rule is imposed. Rawat challenges it in court, saves his government. BJP later wins back-to-back assembly polls with landslides

KARNATAKA

Jul. 2019 15 MLAs from Congress and JD (S) rebel against H.D. Kumaraswamy government, leading to his ouster. Later they join the BJP; B.S. Yediyurappa becomes CM for the fourth time

ARUNACHAL PRADESH

Dec. 2016 Pema Khandu walks out of People’s Party of Arunachal with 33 MLAs (out of 43) to join BJP. At the time, BJP had just 11 MLAs in house of 60. In 2019 poll, Khandu helps BJP win with 41 seats

MANIPUR

Aug. 2020 8 Congress MLAs resign to save BJP’s N. Biren Singh government. Most of them later join the BJP. In March 2022, Singh leads BJP to assembly poll win, gets 32 seats in 60member hall

MADHYA PRADESH

Mar. 2020 28 Congress MLAs led by Jyotiraditya Scindia resign, join the BJP. Kamal Nath government falls, Shivraj Chouhan back as CM