2025: 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.

The NDA's poll pitch, framed around reminders of the "jungle raj" during the RJD rule, alleged demographic change threats posed by 'ghuspaithiyas', and development, is believed to have resonated with the electors in the state. However, the opposition parties alleged that the transfer of Rs 10,000 each to lakhs of women beneficiaries under a scheme ahead of the polls turned the wind in favour of the ruling coalition.

In Maharashtra, the ruling BJP emerged as the most dominant force in the recently-held municipal council and nagar panchayat elections, securing the highest number of seats in five out of the state's six administrative divisions, accounting for 30 to 50 per cent of the seats in most regions.

In 2026, the BJP's biggest challenge would be to win the assembly polls in West Bengal.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on December 30 asserted that the BJP will dislodge the Mamata Banerjee government winning the upcoming polls with two-thirds majority. Setting the tone for the elections, the BJP's key poll strategist attacked the ruling TMC raising the issues of corruption, misgovernance and infiltrators.

Shah accused the TMC government of "dangerously altering" the state's demography by abetting the infiltration of Bangladeshis for electoral gains, and promised that the BJP will create a strong "national security grid" that will completely end infiltration from West Bengal if voted to power.

Though the BJP became the main opposition party in West Bengal, pushing the Left and the Congress down, in the last assembly polls, political observers believe the ruling TMC continues to remain a dominant political force in the state.

The BJP made its presence felt in Kerala with its success in the civic polls, and hopes to build on it and gain in the upcoming assembly polls in the state. It is also looking for a suitable ally in Tamil Nadu to make inroads in the Dravidian state, currently ruled by the DMK.

Political observers feel that both Tamil Nadu and Kerala continue to be a hard nut for the BJP to crack.

Towards the fag end of 2025, the appointment of Bihar MLA Nitin Nabin as the BJP's national working president signalled a generational shift in the ruling party. He is likely to replace BJP president J P Nadda soon.