Amit Shah has been elected BJP’s national president for the second term in succession on Sunday, which means he will have a three-year term at the top post, a period in which the BJP will be contesting multiple assembly elections following a recent taste of defeat in Bihar.
Although Shah’s electoral performance has been largely positive, recent drubbings in Delhi and Bihar have not affected his claim to the party’s top post.
Experts believe his close association with the RSS, senior BJP leaders and PM Modi sealed the deal for Shah.
Shah succeeded current Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in July 2014 after BJP and its allies swept the 2014 general elections, registering their best ever performance. In UP alone, they won 73 out of 80 seats under Shah’s leadership.
Here’s a look at how the BJP fared in assembly elections with Shah at the helm.
Maharashtra: After a daredevil split with the Shiv Sena just before the elections, BJP came out strong winning 122 seats, which is almost thrice the number of seats it had won the last time.
Haryana: This is the second state in which BJP decimated arch rivals Congress. The BJP won a staggering 47 seats, two seats more than the halfway mark on its own. This was indeed a dramatic turnaround considering it had only won four seats in the last assembly elections.
Jammu and Kashmir: Under Shah’s leadership, BJP emerged as the second largest party in the state for the first time winning 25 out of 37 seats in the Jammu region only. This was also a significant improvement from 11 seats, the party had won in 2009.
Jharkhand: BJP managed to secure 37 seats on its own in the usually politically unstable state, where there had been nine governments and three stints of President’s rule in 14 years. Ally AJSU ensured that a BJP-led government will be in power in the 81 member house. This was four in a row, for Amit Shah in terms of making sure his party did better at least compared to previous elections.
Delhi: In a shocking landslide victory for the AAP in Delhi, BJP was reduced to just 3 seats in the 70 member assembly. This meant it lost 29 seats from the last election when it was the party with the maximum number of MLAs.
Bihar: Another defeat for Shah, where his gamble of not naming a chief ministerial candidate and ignoring local leaders proved to be a costly mistake. BJP managed only 53 seats and was outwitted by Lalu Prasad Yadav, who is touted to be the architect of the grand alliance.
With two successive defeats in Delhi and Bihar, Amit Shah has crucial elections coming up in 2016.
Tamil Nadu: Although an insignificant entity in the state, the party would benefit from an alliance with the DMDK or the ruling J Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK to make a mark in the state. At this stage however, both seem unlikely and the BJP could be headed into a battle with PMK and other smaller parties.
Kerala: The recent civic polls should encourage the party leadership with BJP leading Palakkad municipality in local body elections, a first for the party in the state. However, it is unlikely that it will come out as a major player given the UDF and LDF’s legacy. It is likely to go for an alliance with SNDP which targets the Ezhava community.
West Bengal: Although, the main battle will be between the currently ruling TMC and the Left, with the Congress holding on to some of its pockets, BJP has to do wonders to make its presence felt with its development slogan. Currently, the party has only one seat in the 294-member assembly. Even in the 2014 assembly elections, it managed two seats from the state.
Assam: Although the Congress has won three successive elections since 2001, BJP has a fair chance to make a turnaround in Assam after it won 7 out of the 14 seats in the parliamentary elections. The Congress has its own problems with allegations of corruption and losing its clout to the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF).