If BJP cracks Karnataka puzzle, saffron to cover almost entire nation

With BJP's chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa claiming to take oath as next Karnataka CM in the next few days, we take a look at how the BJP along with its allies have gradually voted out all major parties

Single-largest party
The Bharatiya Janata Party emerged as the single largest party in Karnataka, but fell short of a majority with 104 seats in the 224-seat state assembly, the Election Commission of India said.
Karnataka proved to be a setback for the Indian National Congress, and party President Rahul Gandhi, as they failed to get the pulse of the voters. Now, the Congress has governments in just three states -- Punjab, Puducherry and Mizoram.

Vote share
Experts feel the BJP made big inroads in the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) belt, by betting on local issues and leaders.
From just 19.9% in 2013, BJP's vote share surged to 36% in 2018. A poor third, the saffron party was way behind the Congress at 33.6% and JD(S) at 20.2%.
Eight of India's 10 most populous states, according to Census 2011, are now ruled by the NDA: Uttar Pradesh (199 million), Maharashtra (112 million), Bihar (104 million), Madhya Pradesh (72 million), Rajasthan (68 million), Karnataka (61.1 million) and Gujarat (60 million).
Within this, BJP is in power in the original BIMARU states, which have been listed as the fastest-growing industrial hubs.

In the past
The last time a political party or a group had this big a footprint across India was a almost quarter century ago. In 1993, after a round of state elections, the Congress held 16 of India's then 26 states - 15 on its own and one in alliance.

Modi Magic
Before 2014 Lok Sabha polls, BJP was ruling four states and NDA had governments in only seven states.
In 2014, the BJP came to power at the Centre with the largest mandate since 1984, when Rajiv Gandhi won a landslide victory. The saffron party won 282 seats, while its allies were left with just 54, taking the NDA's tally to 336.
Since then, Modi along with his master strategist Amit Shah, has managed to increase the party's footprint across the country. In the 21 state elections (till Tripura) since 2014 , NDA won 15 and BJP got 11 more CMs.

Maha alliance
Fresh after the general elections, the BJP had won 122 seats in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly and formed the government following a post-poll alliance with old ally Shiv Sena.
It was the second-best performer in Jammu and Kashmir, behind the Mehbooba Mufti-led People's Democratic Party, and had managed to form an alliance
BJP came to power in Haryana after winning 47 seats of the 90-member assembly.
It secured a majority in Jharkhand assembly along with its allies.

BJP back in UP 
In 2017, BJP had bagged Uttarakhand and got a clear majority in Uttar Pradesh, after 26 years.

Smart moves
After Nitish Kumar, broke the Mahagatbhadhan with Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress, he was sworn in as the new CM  of Bihar with BJP support.
Also, BJP won less number of seats than Congress in Goa and Manipur, but stitched up post-poll alliances with regional heavyweights to deny the rival party an opportunity to form a government.

Northeast overhaul
BJP's commendable performance in the North-eastern states took it a step closer to its goal of a Congress-mukt Bharat. In its election manifesto in 2014, BJP had promised to pay special attention to the region in terms of massive infrastructure development.
Since May 2014, big budget infrastructure projects were taken up in the region with the Modi government's 'Hill Area Development Programme', besides the more recently approved Rs 5,300-crore infrastructure project for development of the region.

Curtain raiser for 2019?
BJP's win in Karnataka will have a big impact on the national scene during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. What happens in Karnataka will be crucial, given that the party has lost one of its important allies in the Telugu Desam Party.
Also, BJP's victory will make Congress more vulnerable to tough bargaining by other regional players in the run-up to the 2019 elections.
Furthermore, the Karnataka results will also impact the Congress' ability to raise funds, as it would not have an elected government in any major state in India, except Punjab. This would be a major disadvantage for the Congress.