 "BJP 2019 report card: 50% arithmetic and 100% chemistry, shows data")
On March 28, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new extended central office of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in New Delhi. He addressed party leaders and acknowledged the accomplishments of BJP governments — both at the Centre and in states.
From just two seats in the 1984 general elections to winning 303 in the 2019 elections, he said the BJP had received more than 50 per cent of its votes from several states.
It was unclear whether he was referring to the Lok Sabha elections of 2019 or the state Assembly polls.
Election results published by the Election Commission of India, following the 2019 general elections, indicate that the BJP had secured over 50 per cent of its votes independently in 11 states and two Union Territories (UTs).
The National Democratic Alliance won 43 per cent of the combined vote share in the 2019 general elections, with 353 of the total 543 seats.
BJP, which is the largest constituent of the alliance, outperformed its 2014 results by winning 303 seats and securing 37.7 per cent of the national vote share.
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The BJP received more than 60 per cent of votes in three states, with its highest vote share of 69.7 per cent in Himachal Pradesh, followed by 63 per cent in Gujarat and 61.6 per cent in Uttarakhand. The party also managed to cross the halfway mark in several states/UTs.
But in the Assembly elections, breaching the 50 per cent mark wasn’t so easy.
It retained power in Gujarat by winning 156 of the 182 Assembly seats, with a 52.5 per cent vote share in the 2022 Assembly elections.
In the 2019 Assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh, the BJP won 41 of the 60 seats and secured a 50.86 per cent vote share.
Sources: IndiaSpend, Election Commission of India