The BJP’s expansion began with victories in the Haryana and Maharashtra assembly elections in 2014, followed by Assam and Arunachal Pradesh in 2016, Manipur in 2017, Tripura in 2018, Odisha in 2024, Bihar in 2026 and now West Bengal.

For the first time in Haryana, BJP formed the government on its own and made Manohar Lal Khattar the Chief Minister.In Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis became the first BJP chief minister of the state after the party emerged as the single largest party in the assembly elections and formed the government with partners in the Mahayuti alliance.The BJP expanded its reach in the Northeast by winning Assam in 2016, where Sarbananda Sonowal became the party’s first chief minister in the state.Since then, the BJP has retained power in Assam and has since won two consecutive assembly elections, including the one held in April.In the same year, the BJP formed its first full-fledged government in Arunachal Pradesh after a major political realignment.Congress leader Pema Khandu became the Chief Minister in July 2016 amid a prolonged political crisis. Two months later, he and most of the Congress MLAs joined the People’s Party of Arunachal, an ally of the BJP.In December that year, Khandu and 33 MLAs joined the BJP, giving the party a clear majority and forming its first stable government in the state.The BJP had earlier formed the government in Arunachal Pradesh for some time in 2003 under the leadership of former Chief Minister Gegong Apang. Apang left Congress and joined BJP, but his government lasted only 44 days and then he returned to Congress.

In 2017, the BJP formed a post-poll alliance with the National People’s Party, Naga People’s Front and regional parties in Manipur to install N Biren Singh as the Chief Minister, the party’s first government in the border state.A year later, the BJP ended the Left Front’s decades-long rule in Tripura and formed its first government under the leadership of Biplab Kumar Deb.The party registered another major success in eastern India by defeating Biju Janata Dal in Odisha in 2024. Mohan Charan Majhi was then sworn in as the first BJP Chief Minister of the state, ending Naveen Patnaik’s 24-year uninterrupted tenure.Also read: BJP’s Bharat Jodo Yatra: From 7 to 22 states, how did BJP create the political map of India?In Bihar, where the BJP was part of Nitish Kumar-led coalition governments for a long time, the party did not have its own chief minister until 2026.Nitish, who served as chief minister for several terms with brief interruptions over two decades, stepped down earlier this year and moved to the Rajya Sabha. After his departure, BJP appointed Samrat Chaudhary as the party’s first Chief Minister in the state.

With its victory in West Bengal, the BJP has now formed the government in another state that was long considered politically elusive for the party. BJP won 207 out of 294 assembly seats.The party’s rise in eastern and northeastern India also reflects a major political shift in the last decade. Once seen as a largely Hindi-speaking force, the BJP has steadily expanded in areas where it historically had little organizational presence, and has benefited from a mix of organizational growth, welfare outreach, leadership projection and the collapse or fragmentation of opposition parties.BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala said the party’s expansion under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi reflects its governance model and growing public acceptance.He said, “Under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, the BJP and the NDA have continuously expanded their political footprint across India on the basis of governance, performance and delivery. In states that never had a BJP government or a BJP chief minister before, BJP governments were elected after Modi became the Prime Minister.”“Prime Minister Modi has now become synonymous with the pro-incumbency wave. In the recent elections, BJP-NDA governments have returned to power in states like Assam and Puducherry, while governments in many opposition-ruled states have faced anti-incumbency wave,” he said.With West Bengal now adding to its seats, the rise of the BJP marks one of the most significant political expansions in post-independence India – transforming the party from a largely Hindi-speaking force into a major pan-India political machine.