The spectacular victories of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the West Bengal and Assam assembly elections have surprised many. The huge voter turnout in Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala was surprising, and now, the results have stunned all. The dramatic spread of the BJP across India in the last 12 years has surprised most of the people. In 2014, when Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, the BJP-led NDA was ruling seven states, Congress and its allies were ruling 14 states, and seven states were being ruled by regional parties. BJP had no governments in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra, and its presence in the northeast was minimal.
