Due to reduced presence of opposition in major battlegrounds, NDA strengthened its hold on big states. india news
Of the six giant states with 278 Lok Sabha seats, which account for more than half of the 543 seats in Parliament, the ruling coalition is now in power in five of them, with a combined Lok Sabha strength of 239.Since PM Narendra Modi led the BJP to majority for the first time in 2014, the BJP’s position in these states has never been stronger than it is now, it has chief ministers in three of them, and Bengal will soon be a illustrious name in the list.
In contrast, the India Bloc, now defeated in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, has never been weaker in the battleground states that hold the key to parliamentary majority.After the four biggest states – Uttar Pradesh (80), Maharashtra (48), West Bengal (42) and Bihar (40), where the BJP-led NDA is in power, comes Tamil Nadu (39), where actor Vijay has taken TVK close to a majority in the 2026 assembly elections. He has also been vocal in his opposition to the BJP as well as the DMK, a strong member of the India Bloc. The sixth state, Madhya Pradesh with 29 seats, is the stronghold of BJP.
.
Of course, Lok Sabha elections are a different battle altogether, and parties in power in states often perform poorly in parliamentary elections. In 2024, the SP-Congress alliance in Uttar Pradesh pushed the BJP to second place, while the BJP came out on top in Congress-ruled Karnataka. But not ruling any major state, removing the incumbent from power becomes a difficult task for the opposition.With elections due in UP early next year and Madhya Pradesh in 2028, the arithmetic could still change if opposition parties manage to defeat the BJP in the Hindi-speaking states.If the list is expanded to include all 18 states with double-digit Lok Sabha numbers, their combined strength increases to 502 in the 543-member House. In that list, the opposition makes its presence felt, but only justifiably. It is in office in five states – Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, Jharkhand and Punjab – with a total of 92 seats.