The BJP was considered a marginal player in South India. In its early days the BJP was a party basically of Hindi speaking belt. The BJP’s core strength in its initial days was in Rajasthan, erstwhile Madhya Pradesh, NCT of Delhi, erstwhile Uttar Pradesh with marginal presence in other States.
The BJP had virtually no presence in South Indian States. It was a very tough task for the BJP to expand itself in these States. The southern States were ruled either by the Congress party or regional parties. The voters of these States were divided among these parties.
In erstwhile Andhra Pradesh it was the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Congress party. In Tamil Nadu it was between the DMK and the AIADMK. In Karnataka it was between the Congress party and the Janta Dal fraction headed either by late Hedge or by Devegowda.
In Kerala since 1982 the State dispensation is revolving between the LDF and the UDF being headed by the CPM and the Congress party. So, it was extremely tough for the BJP to establish itself in these areas. These States account for 130 LS seats and the BJP had virtually no presence or little presence in these States till mid-90s.
But the BJP entered the southern States through Karnataka. In 1985 and 1989 Assembly elections in Karnataka the BJP won only 2 and 4 seats respectively in Karnataka while in 2008 the BJP won 110 seats and formed the government. In Puducherry Union Territory the BJP is running government with the local party AINRC.
Now the BJP is emulating its Karnataka experiment in Telangana. In the 2024 LS election the BJP won 8 seats in Telangana with vote share of 35.08 per cent. The BJP increased its vote share by 15.43 per cent with respect to its 2019 LS poll in Telangana. In 119 Assembly seats in Telangana the BJP established lead on 46 ACs during the 2024 LS election.
The Bharat Rashtra Samithi had established a lead only on 3 ACs in the 2024 LS election. This shows that the BJP has completely replaced the BRS and in the next Assembly poll the BJP will repeat its 2008 Karnataka feat in Telangana too. We cannot deny that BRS may ally with the BJP in coming days as a junior partner in order to keep itself alive in State politics.
