<p>New Delhi: As the legislative assemblies of four states and one Union Territory head to polls, the <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/bjp">Bharatiya Janata Party</a>’s new president Nitin Nabin faces a litmus test. </p><p>In these four states, BJP is striving to come to power for the first time in three, and defend its government in one. The party’s performance could define the early contours of his tenure atop the party’s organisational hierarchy.</p> .Double exit: Nitish Kumar quits as MLC, Nitin Nabin steps down as Bihar MLA.<p>The elections span four states – Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala – and the Union Territory of Puducherry, covering 824 assembly seats in total. The stakes for the BJP are asymmetric across these assemblies. While it goes to the polls as a confident incumbent in one state, and a close challenger in another, it is an aspirant seeking to breach Dravidian and Left strongholds in the south.</p><p>In West Bengal, the contest is expected to be the most fiercely fought. The BJP, which made dramatic gains in the 2021 assembly elections and again in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, is locked in a bitter battle against Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress. Opinion surveys suggest a neck-and-neck race in vote share, making Bengal the election the party is most keenly watching. </p> .<p>In the 294-member assembly, the BJP had made huge strides in 2021, managing to take its vote percentage from 11% to 38%, and winning 77 seats from its previous tally of 3. This term the party hopes to make a bigger dent, with its sight in forming a government. Heated exchanges between Mamata Banerjee and the BJP leadership over the Special Intensive Revision exercise has been the mainstay of the elections, with home minister Amit Shah camping there for a fortnight ahead of the polls. </p><p>Assam is the BJP’s most comfortable ground. The party, which came to power in the state for the first time in 2016, is contesting for a third consecutive term under Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Opinion polls suggest the NDA-led coalition retains an edge over a Congress-led opposition in the 126-member assembly. However, Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, and Spokesperson Pawan Khera have levelled allegations of corruption against Sarma and his family in the final days of campaigning. </p><p>While Sarma has categorically denied the charges, and announced defamation proceedings against Khera, it is not the first time Sarma has faced such allegations; he has previously been linked to the Saradha scam before. The back-and-forth has sharpened in tone, with Sarma threatening that the Assam Police would pursue Khera even across state lines.</p><p>For Nabin, who took charge as BJP president in January this year, becoming the youngest to hold the post and the first from Bihar, the results will be his first direct organisational reckoning and the first electoral test. The party’s performance across these five assemblies will set the political temperature ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, due in 2027.</p><p>Nabin’s style of working is different from that of his predecessor, says an MP from one of the poll-going states. “He’s younger, and while he has experience of the politics of Bengal, this will be a huge test for him. Nadda was older when he was at the helm and had more organisational experience,” the lawmaker said. </p><p>In the south, the BJP is in aspirant mode. In Kerala, the party has historically struggled to break the state’s bipolar Left-Congress contest; poll projections give it between five and eight seats in the 140-member House. Tamil Nadu, where the BJP is contesting as part of an NDA alliance with the AIADMK, is similarly resistant terrain, even combined NDA vote shares have trailed the DMK-led alliance in recent elections.</p><p>In Puducherry, the BJP’s NDA partner All India N.R. Congress, led by sitting Chief Minister N. Rangaswamy, is seeking a second term. The alliance faces a Congress-DMK combine in a territory where narrow margins and fluid alliances typically decide outcomes.</p><p>Assam, Kerala and Puducherry vote on April 9, while Tamil Nadu votes on April 23. West Bengal votes on April 23 and 29. </p>
<p>New Delhi: As the legislative assemblies of four states and one Union Territory head to polls, the <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/bjp">Bharatiya Janata Party</a>’s new president Nitin Nabin faces a litmus test. </p><p>In these four states, BJP is striving to come to power for the first time in three, and defend its government in one. The party’s performance could define the early contours of his tenure atop the party’s organisational hierarchy.</p> .Double exit: Nitish Kumar quits as MLC, Nitin Nabin steps down as Bihar MLA.<p>The elections span four states – Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala – and the Union Territory of Puducherry, covering 824 assembly seats in total. The stakes for the BJP are asymmetric across these assemblies. While it goes to the polls as a confident incumbent in one state, and a close challenger in another, it is an aspirant seeking to breach Dravidian and Left strongholds in the south.</p><p>In West Bengal, the contest is expected to be the most fiercely fought. The BJP, which made dramatic gains in the 2021 assembly elections and again in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, is locked in a bitter battle against Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress. Opinion surveys suggest a neck-and-neck race in vote share, making Bengal the election the party is most keenly watching. </p> .<p>In the 294-member assembly, the BJP had made huge strides in 2021, managing to take its vote percentage from 11% to 38%, and winning 77 seats from its previous tally of 3. This term the party hopes to make a bigger dent, with its sight in forming a government. Heated exchanges between Mamata Banerjee and the BJP leadership over the Special Intensive Revision exercise has been the mainstay of the elections, with home minister Amit Shah camping there for a fortnight ahead of the polls. </p><p>Assam is the BJP’s most comfortable ground. The party, which came to power in the state for the first time in 2016, is contesting for a third consecutive term under Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Opinion polls suggest the NDA-led coalition retains an edge over a Congress-led opposition in the 126-member assembly. However, Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, and Spokesperson Pawan Khera have levelled allegations of corruption against Sarma and his family in the final days of campaigning. </p><p>While Sarma has categorically denied the charges, and announced defamation proceedings against Khera, it is not the first time Sarma has faced such allegations; he has previously been linked to the Saradha scam before. The back-and-forth has sharpened in tone, with Sarma threatening that the Assam Police would pursue Khera even across state lines.</p><p>For Nabin, who took charge as BJP president in January this year, becoming the youngest to hold the post and the first from Bihar, the results will be his first direct organisational reckoning and the first electoral test. The party’s performance across these five assemblies will set the political temperature ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, due in 2027.</p><p>Nabin’s style of working is different from that of his predecessor, says an MP from one of the poll-going states. “He’s younger, and while he has experience of the politics of Bengal, this will be a huge test for him. Nadda was older when he was at the helm and had more organisational experience,” the lawmaker said. </p><p>In the south, the BJP is in aspirant mode. In Kerala, the party has historically struggled to break the state’s bipolar Left-Congress contest; poll projections give it between five and eight seats in the 140-member House. Tamil Nadu, where the BJP is contesting as part of an NDA alliance with the AIADMK, is similarly resistant terrain, even combined NDA vote shares have trailed the DMK-led alliance in recent elections.</p><p>In Puducherry, the BJP’s NDA partner All India N.R. Congress, led by sitting Chief Minister N. Rangaswamy, is seeking a second term. The alliance faces a Congress-DMK combine in a territory where narrow margins and fluid alliances typically decide outcomes.</p><p>Assam, Kerala and Puducherry vote on April 9, while Tamil Nadu votes on April 23. West Bengal votes on April 23 and 29. </p>