Last month, India held state elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Mizoram and Rajasthan, and the results show that the BJP still enjoys majority in most parts of the country.

The Hindu-nationalist BJP has defeated the Congress in key Hindi states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. The ruling party has not only retained Madhya Pradesh but dethroned the Congress in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. The Congress, however, has managed to defeat the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana. And the Zoram People’s Movement has won majority in the north-eastern state of Mizoram.

Most opinion and exit polls were indicating a close fight between the Congress and the BJP. But the ruling party performed much better than what the opinion polls suggested.

The 2023 elections are a reversal of the situation in 2018; the BJP had lost three states in 2018, and the Congress emerged victorious. In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP managed to topple the Congress government, which got weak due to rebellion by Congress MLAs. Jyotiraditya Scindia led the revolt, and 22 Congress MLAs quit the party and joined the BJP. This switch allowed the BJP to win 163 seats in the 230-member assembly, while the Congress won 66 seats. The BJP gained 57 seats while Congress lost 47 seats.

In the Rajasthan state elections, the BJP has comfortably won 115 out of the 199 Assembly seats and enjoys the majority to form the government. The ruling Congress managed to secure only 69 seats. Rajasthan has kept its tradition of ousting the ruling party after one term. No party has been able to retain........

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