Amid Opposition’s EVM, SIR manipulation allegations, BJP was largest party in just 31 of 72 Assembly elections since May 2014

New Delhi

Amid the long-standing allegations by the Opposition that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) have been hacked, a charge that has taken a backseat for now and has been replaced by protests over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and allegations that the exercise is being manipulated to give the BJP an advantage, the party’s electoral record across Assembly elections presents a more complex and sobering picture.

An analysis of the Assembly election results shows that the BJP has not been the largest party in anything close to every election since it came to power at the Centre.

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Since the Modi government took office on 26 May 2014, 72 Assembly elections have been held across states and Union Territories, up to September 2026. 

The BJP emerged as the largest party in 31 of them, or about 43 per cent. In another 11, it was not the largest party but formed or joined the government as part of an alliance. Taken together, that is 42 elections, or about 58 per cent. In the remaining 30, it neither finished first nor joined the government.

The count covers elections whose results were declared after that date, so it leaves out five held alongside the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, with results on 16 May: Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

The 42-30 split is not a win-loss ratio. It counts Karnataka in 2018 and Maharashtra in 2019, where the BJP was the largest party but its brief governments fell within days and rivals took over. Restricted to governments that were formed after the election and held office, the BJP was part of the government in 40 of the 72 cases, or about 56 per cent. 

In other words, it was the largest party in only about four out of every 10 Assembly elections it contested