Politics in India, or anywhere really, is a roller-coaster ride, well-equipped with its set of twists and turns. Take, for instance, the case of Jammu & Kashmir. Who would’ve thought two parties as different as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party (PDP) would join hands to form a government? Well, certainly nobody before 2016. But, BJP ended up extending its support to PDP, and the alliance lasted for over two years.
It is, as they say, nothing is impossible when it comes to politics. The sphere keeps on changing, with alliances forging and breaking every day. The recent years have been no exception. Want to find out more? Read on.
States and their governments
Collecting and winning votes is a game of pleasing. And certainly, that’s no easy task. That is precisely why you’ll rarely see a single party attaining an absolute majority in the country. The end result is- alliances and coalitions. Sometimes even between parties that share no mutual ideologies. In a few other cases, the unexpected ruling comes into power, take BJP in Meghalaya, for instance. The party only had two states in the assembly elections but managed to bring it under NDA’s ruling by joining hands with National People’s Party (NPP).
Multiple other states are being governed by alliances and coalitions. We bring to you, a list of States and their coalition governments:
| Sr. No. |
State |
Ruling |
Chief Minister/Party |
| 1 |
Andhra Pradesh |
TDP |
N. Chandrababu Naidu/TDP |
| 2 |
Arunachal Pradesh |
BJP |
Pema Khandu/BJP |
| 3 |
Assam |
NDA (BJP’s share above 50%) |
Sarbananda Sonowal/BJP |
| 4 |
Bihar |
NDA (BJP’s share under 50%) |
Nitish Kumar/JD(U) |
| 5 |
Chhattisgarh |
INC |
Bhupesh Baghel/INC |
| 6 |
Goa |
NDA (BJP’s share more than 50%) |
Manohar Parrikar/BJP |
| 7 |
Gujarat |
BJP |
Vijay Rupani/BJP |
| 8 |
Haryana |
BJP |
Manohar Lal Khattar/BJP |
| 9 |
Himachal Pradesh |
BJP |
Jai Ram Thakur/BJP |
| 10 |
Jammu & Kashmir |
N/A |
N/A (President’s rule) |
| 11 |
Jharkhand |
BJP |
Raghubar Das/BJP |
| 12 |
Karnataka |
UPA (INC’s share more than 50%) |
H. D. Kumaraswamy/JD(S) |
| 13 |
Kerala |
LDF |
Pinarayi Vijayan/CPI(M) |
| 14 |
Madhya Pradesh |
INC |
Kamal Nath/INC |
| 15 |
Maharashtra |
NDA (BJP’s share above 50%) |
Devendra Fadnavis/BJP |
| 16 |
Manipur |
BJP |
N. Biren Singh/BJP |
| 17 |
Meghalaya |
NDA (BJP’s share under 50%) |
Conrad Sangma/NPP |
| 18 |
Mizoram |
NDA (BJP’s share under 50%) |
Zoramthanga/MNF |
| 19 |
Nagaland |
NDA (BJP’s share under 50%) |
Neiphiu Rio/NDPP |
| 20 |
Odisha |
BJD |
Naveen Patnaik/BJD |
| 21 |
Punjab |
INC |
Amarinder Singh/INC |
| 22 |
Rajasthan |
UPA (INC’s share above 50%) |
Ashok Gehlot/INC |
| 23 |
Sikkim |
NDA (BJP’s share under 50%) |
Pawan Kumar Chamling/SDF |
| 24 |
Tamil Nadu |
AIADMK |
Edappadi K. Palaniswami/AIADMK |
| 25 |
Telangana |
TRS |
K. Chandrashekhar Rao/TRS |
| 26 |
Tripura |
BJP |
Biplab Kumar Deb/BJP |
| 27 |
Uttarakhand |
BJP |
Trivendra Singh Rawat/BJP |
| 28 |
Uttar Pradesh |
BJP |
Yogi Adityanath/BJP |
| 29 |
West Bengal |
AITC |
Mamata Banerjee/AITC |
NDA: National Democratic Alliance
UPA: United Progressive Alliance
Overview
In December 2018, the states of Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh were won over from BJP by the Indian National Congress. On the other hand, the party’s grip loosened over Mizoram, which fell into NDA’s lap, with the Mizo National Front coming out as the largest party. With 2019 Lok Sabha elections right around the corner, parties have swung into action once again. Talks of coalitions- both for Lok Sabha and upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections have already begun.
So, how would the colours of our national map change this time around? We’ll have to wait and see.
