BJP claims pan-India presence

 Going far beyond the seats it managed in the five state polls, the BJP has pointed to its vote percentage to claim that it has become a pan-India party.

The saffron outfit also used its poll figures to counter perceptions that its debacle in Delhi and Bihar has hit the Modi-Shah duo that has managed the party affairs since 2014.

A BJP parliamentary board resolution passed after results of polls in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal had details of the increase in vote percentage, something it rarely mentioned in statements meant for media.

“In Assam, the party and its allies garnered 42% vote share and 86 seats in the current elections, as against a 10.7% vote share and 5 seats won by the BJP in the last elections. Even in West Bengal, the BJP along with its allies has won 6 seats and increased its vote share to 11% from 4%,” it said. 

“The BJP has expanded its base in Kerala by increasing vote share from 6% to 15% in these elections and has entered the assembly,” said the board’s resolution after a meeting attended among others by PM Narendra Modi. 

The saffron party went on to describe Thursday’s poll outcome as a “historic achievement”.