The wheels that make a political juggernaut roll

Now let’s see the deeper political consequences of Chaudhary’s rise in Bihar and Adhikari’s arrival in Bengal. Next year, seven key states will go to the polls. Of these, five—Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Gujarat and Goa—are BJP-ruled. In the other states—Punjab and Himachal Pradesh—a resurgent BJP would give anything to wrest control. Ang (Bihar), Bang (West Bengal) and Kalinga (Odisha), along with the North-East, account for 128 Lok Sabha seats. In this belt, Jharkhand is now the only opposition-ruled state, with 14 Lok Sabha seats. Even so, the opposition holds about 51 parliamentary seats across the region. For the BJP, this remains one of the few large geographies offering room to expand its tally ahead of the 2029 general elections.