Shillong to Chennai via Bhubaneswar: Here's the BJP's east coast expansion plan

A supporter of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with his body painted in the party's colour attends a public rally after the party's national executive meeting in Allahabad, India June 13, 2016. REUTERS/Jitendra Prakash - RTX2G09Z

Ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power with a thumping majority in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, it has steadily expanded its footprint across the country.

A party which ruled just six states in early 2014 is now part of the government in 18 states.

Earlier this year, the party registered a comprehensive victory in India's largest state, Uttar Pradesh, bagging 325 out of 403 seats along with its allies.

In the last month, the saffron party has also managed to get their Presidential and the Vice-Presidential candidates, courtesy the numbers they have across both Houses of Parliament and state assemblies.

And in a big boost, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) also returned to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Kumar was considered by many as the Opposition's best chance of beating the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Now, the BJP's next challenge is to win in states where they have traditionally had little or no support. The party has been working towards restructuring its organisation in these states and strengthening at the grass-roots level.

Here's an update on their progress:

Tripura

The party had historically not done well in any of the north-eastern states. However, since 2013, the BJP and its allies are ruling in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Sikkim and Nagaland.

On Monday, BJP became the principal Opposition party in Tripura after six of the Trinamool Congress' MLAs joined them. The development comes with just seven months to go for the Assembly polls where the BJP is targeting 51 out of the 60 seats.

 Meghalaya

The Congress-ruled state where the saffron party has no seat will go to the polls in 2018. In April, the BJP floated a new non-Congress platform called the North-eastern Democratic Alliance.

The organisation has inducted 12 tribal faces and had asked its workers to fan out and reach out to the people in the state.
 
 
A Look At BJP's Expansion Plan

However, in June, 5,000 party workers quit over the Centre's new rules which sought to prevent trade of cattle for slaughter.

West Bengal

Historically, the BJP has had little presence in the state. BJP and its ally Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) currently have three seats each in the 294-member assembly.

However, the party is now making inroads by stepping up its activities and focusing on the grass-roots. According to a report in Hindustan Times, the state unit will use “Save Bengal from becoming Kashmir” as a motto in the panchayat elections. Earlier this year, NDA had managed to win three civic polls.

The party has also stepped up its attack on the state government. Following incidents of communal violence, the state's Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) general secretary Jishnu Basu accused chief minister Mamata Banerjee of not taking action to control the violence.

Odisha

In January 2015, Shah made the BJP's intent clear when he announced at a rally, “We will overthrow the corrupt BJD government in the 2019 elections.” The BJP's membership has increased from six lakh to 40 lakh in the state since then.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) may face anti-incumbency after nearly two decades in power.

Making their intentions clear, the BJP staged its National Executive meet in capital Bhubaneswar in April. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made four official trips to the state since 2014 while nearly all the BJP's Union ministers have visited at least once.

In February, ground-level party workers helped the party increase its tally of zilla parishad seats by nearly tenfold from 36 to 297.

Kerala

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley visited the family of a slain RSS worker last week. Attacking the Communist Party of India (Marxist) government, he said, “Every time the LDF (Left Democratic Front) comes to power, the incidents of violence increase. The political opponents are killed in a most brutal and barbaric manner.”

While the killing of both BJP and CPI (M) workers in parts of Kerala have happened before, the BJP's reaction this time is being seen by political observers as a war cry.

Tamil Nadu

The death of chief minister J Jayalalithaa in December 2016 left a vacuum in the state's politics. The split in the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) since then has given the BJP a window.

On Friday, Amit Shah urged the two warring factions of the AIADMK to reconcile amid media reports that a unified AIADMK could join the NDA.

Actor Rajinikanth, who has a mass following, has cordial relations with PM Modi and may to join politics, according to reports.

While the BJP has at some point in the past enjoyed supported of AIADMK and principal opposition party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the party's non-Dravidian image continues to be a hurdle.