By Kavita Mistry 
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) victory in Bihar—which comes just months after its win in Delhi, Haryana and Maharashtra—has infused renewed confidence into the party, which now sees the upcoming assembly elections, especially in West Bengal, as its next big challenge.
“The Haryana and Delhi victories definitely helped smooth over the impact of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where the party was reduced to 240. But the Bihar victory has arrived at a crucial juncture as the party was struggling with low morale among workers and delays in key appointments due to the wait for a new national president,” said a party worker.
“Not only has this win reinvigorated our party workers, it has also strengthened the organisation’s machinery,” added the leader.
Experts point out that these consecutive wins have only reinforced the strength and reach of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and the BJP’s organisational structure.
Speaking to ThePrint, Yashwant Deshmukh, founding director of CVoter, said the Bihar win demonstrates that the BJP is back.
He termed the results a ‘momentum builder’ that offsets the 2024 Lok Sabha ‘blip’ and sets the stage for BJP’s electoral ambitions.
“They are back. I mean whatever the blip in the radar that the 2024 election was, that blip in radar also came from the states where they were strongest, for instance Uttar Pradesh. So basically the infighting, non-performing of MPs and all those kinds of things which they could not manage, that was the blip in the radar. And everybody started saying, “oh you know it’s done… gaya (gone)… done and dusted,” he said.
“And then came Nadda’s statement about RSS and everything after that we saw what happened. But then we had the Maharashtra elections, then Haryana and Delhi. I believe that the BJP organisation is the key. Secondly, they need to keep good relationships with their alliance partners where they do not have a face and keeping a respectful relationship is a lesson for them which they have learnt,” said Deshmukh.
“They are the perfect example, how quickly they learn and they implement the changes. You know, that’s the dynamism that keeps them as election machinery ahead of everybody else, so I think they will continue with that, they will continue (with) status quo. Things are good looking better for them, whatever the blip in the radar has gone,” he added.
Soon after the party’s victory, PM Modi, in his address to party workers at the BJP headquarters, vowed to end ‘jungle raj’ in West Bengal, with an eye on the 2026 assembly elections there.
Earlier this year, as the BJP looked to strengthen its position in West Bengal before the polls, the BJP had appointed senior party leader Samik Bhattacharya the new chief of its West Bengal unit.
A senior BJP leader said the Bihar victory is especially significant as it reflects the Modi-led BJP’s robust health, even while the party negotiates consensus with the RSS over the national BJP president’s name.
Party leaders said they were aware the BJP requires greater and better coordination with the RSS, something that was found missing during the campaign for the Lok Sabha polls as a large section of the RSS cadre stayed away from election work, leading to a reduced tally for the ruling party.
However, making amends, the two worked in greater coordination, which resulted in a victory in Haryana, Maharashtra and Delhi.
The delay in appointing the new national president had drawn criticism from within the party, with both workers and supporters calling it a topic of public discussion. Many speaking to ThePrint earlier had pointed out how the delay had also impacted the overall internal functioning of the organisation.
Even as these electoral successes boost the party’s momentum, suspense over who will be the next BJP president remains, amidst internal RSS party influences and factional contests.
“The one constant question that we have been facing is why the election of a new president is not being done. The public perception had become such that they used to say it was related to the party having differences with RSS over the issue. Naturally it was hurting the image of the party,” explained a BJP leader.
“In this context, the Bihar victory becomes significant. The question may not haunt the party for a brief period at least. It is also special because of the magnitude of the victory. None of the exit polls had predicted it and the victory will now provide us with momentum for future elections in other states like West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. The elections show that aggressive grassroots mobilisation and everything is possible under PM Modi’s leadership,” he added.
Many in the party see the Bihar results as an endorsement of Modi’s governance model, crediting the ‘disciplined’ workers who have been working tirelessly from one election to the next.
Speaking to ThePrint, Rahul Verma of the CPR (Centre for Policy Research) said, with every election victory, the Modi-Shah duo only becomes stronger within the BJP and RSS framework.
“They were already in a commanding position after the victories in Haryana and Maharashtra. In both these states, the BJP was on the back-foot after Lok Sabha losses. Then they won Delhi and now they have Bihar. So they have more room to manoeuvre,” he said.
However, Verma points out there are some areas still left for the BJP to work on. “The BJP may not have got its act together completely, they also have some weak spots such as a few non-performing chief ministers. But they are now in an overall good position. As far as the next BJP president is concerned, it will be with the consent of PM Modi for sure,” he added.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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