State Govts collapsing & trend of poll defeats turned into victories since 2014

Updated: 12/28/2023
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Last Updated: 06 Sept 2023

“There is a serial killer in the city who is committing one murder after the other. People choose a government, they topple it" - Kejriwal slammed BJP[1]

BJP is alleged by many opposition parties for turning poll defeats into victories, unscrupulously, outside the ballot box

1. Uttarakhand - March 2016[2]

  • March 2016 - The Harish Rawat Congress government in Uttarakhand was brought down after 9 ruling party MLAs switched sides to BJP
  • President's rule was imposed by Modi Govt

The Supreme Court intervened and reinstated the government within couple of months

2. Manipur - March 2017[3]

  • 14 March 2017 - Congress emerged the single largest party with 28 seats

  • The BJP(21 seats) managed to form Govt with the support of Naga People’s Front(4), National Peoples Party(4) and a few other MLAs, including one from the Congress, likely helped the combine reach the magic figure of 31

Governor Ms. Najma Heptulla said she was aware that the Congress had emerged as the single largest party but it was not “incumbent on a Governor” to call the single largest party

3. Goa - March 2017[4][5]

  • Congress had emerged as the single largest party with 17 seats in the 40-member assembly
  • Ruling BJP reduced to a mere 13 seats, down eight from the 21 it won in the last state elections
  • 10 seats picked by smaller regional players such as Goa Forward, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and 3 independent candidates
  • BJP managed to form Govt

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Digvijay Singh said, "...BJP has stolen (mandate) like a thief. They have committed dacoity."

4. Meghalaya - March 2018[6]

  • 14 March 2018 - BJP contested in 46 seats but managed to win just two
  • Congress had emerged as the single largest party with 21 seats and National People’s Party (NPP) with 19 in a House of 60 (Elections were held in 59 constituencies)

Nevertheless, the BJP outsmarted the Congress in turning the post-election equation in its favour and played a key role in the formation of a non-Congress coalition government headed by the NPP and backed by the BJP and regional parties.

5. Jammu & Kashmir - June 2018[2:1]

  • 2014: BJP, the second largest party in the Legislative Assembly, had 25 members, agreed for a coalition government with PDP as the state polls threw up a hung assembly
  • June 2018: Jammu and Kashmir government of Mehbooba Mufti fell after the BJP, a coalition partner, pulled the plug on its alliance with her PDP
  • June 2018: The Governor imposed Governor's rule and placed the legislative assembly in suspended animation[7]
  • December 20, 2018: The central government imposed President's rule in Jammu and Kashmir

President's rule imposition now under challenge in Supreme Court along with the August 2019 abrogation of Article 370 and the subsequent restructuring of the state into two Union territories. Judgement Reserved[8]

6. Arunachal Pradesh - May 2019[9]

  • 9 December 2015: Governor ordered to advance the sixth session from 14 January 2016 to 16 December 2015
  • 15 December 2015: Speaker issued notice disqualifying 14 of 21 INC MLAs who had rebelled against the party but the same day the notice was overturned by the Deputy Speaker
  • The Speaker decided to not commence the sixth session the next day which was cited illegal by the Deputy Speaker
  • January 2016: HC stayed the disqualification of 14 INC MLAs
  • 26 January 2016: Central Govt imposed President's rule

13 July 2016: SC termed the Governor's decision unconstitutional and ordered the restoration of INC government

  • 16 July 2016: Restored Chief Minister Nabam Tuki was asked to prove majority in the assembly. Tuki resigned.
  • Rebel INC MLA Pema Khandu, son of former Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu became CM and proved majority in assembly
  • In 2016, 41 Congress MLAs, including Pema Khandu, joined People’s Party of Arunachal. The same year, all of them switched loyalties to the BJP

7. Karnataka - July 2019[10][11][12]

  • May 2018: BJP 104, Congress 78, JD(S) 37
  • May 15, 2018: The Congress and JD (S) combine & officially meet Governor to claim with the support of 117 MLAs
  • May 16, 2018: BJP meets Governor to lay claim

May 16, 2018: Governor Vajubhai Vala, however, invited Yeddyurappa to form government

  • May 17, 2018: BJP's BS Yeddyurappa today took oath as chief minister of Karnataka
  • Governor allowing BJP 15 days to prove majority

-- 19 May 2018: The Supreme court limited the window to 3 days and ordered the floor test to be held next day in the Karnataka assembly[13]
-- 20 May 2018: Chief minister Yeddyurappa resigned 10 minutes before the trust vote

  • 23-May-2018: JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy takes oath as CM[14]

May 2019: BJP govt comes back to Power in Center

  • July 2019: Resignation of 17 legislators of Congress & JD(S). They were carted away to Mumbai then ruled by BJP and put up in a hotel, allegedly by the BJP
  • July 2019: Allegations of Bribery rocked Parliament
  • 23 July 2019: Congress-JD(S) coalition succumbed, Kumarasamy lost a trust vote 99 to 105 & resigned
  • 26 July 2019: B. S. Yediyurappa was sworn in as Chief Minister of Karnataka once again

8. Madhya Pradesh - March 2020[15]

  • November 2018 - Congress had emerged as the single-largest party with 114 seats, 2 short of simple majority mark
  • BJP was close behind with 109 seats
  • Congress formed the government with the help of one BSP MLA, one SP MLA and four Independent MLAs. Kamal Nath was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
  • 10 March 2020: Senior leader of INC, Jyotiraditya Scindia suddenly went to meet PM Narendra Modi, and Amit Shah

10 March 2020: Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned from the Congress party along with his group of 22 rebel MLAs & joined BJP. He was offered RS ticket immediately after by BJP

  • 20 March 2020: Chief Minister Kamal Nath tendered his resignation
  • 21 March 2020: All the 22 rebel ex-Congress MLAs joined BJP
  • 23 March 2020: Shivraj Singh Chouhan took oath as the new Chief Minister

Lockdown was ordered by PM Modi on 24 March 2020. A Tell Tale Coincidence.

  • November 2020: 18 of the total 25 ex-Congress MLAs won their seats back as BJP candidates in bypolls

9. Puducherry - February 2021[16]

  • 22 February 2021: Congress Govt loses floor test and CM resigns
  • January 25 2021: Sudden resignation by Namassivayam as a minister as well as a legislator
  • Later 4 more including Speaker of the House resigned
  • April 6 2021: Fresh Assembly poll held and witnessed the AINRC & BJP emerging victorious in 16 of the total 30 constituencies to form the Govt

10. Maharashtra - June 2022

  • Oct 2019: BJP-Shiv Sena alliance(161 seats: BJP - 105, SS - 56) and INC-NCP Alliance(106 seats: INC - 44, NCP - 54 seats)
  • Shiv Sena declined to support the BJP to form the government, demanding an equal share in power and the post of Chief Minister for 2.5 years according to 50-50 promise

President's rule imposed

Crisis 1[17][18]

Nov 23, 2019 05:30 am : Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar reach Raj Bhavan
Nov 23, 2019 05:47 am : President's rule revoked
Nov 23, 2019 07:50 am : Swearing-in ceremony of Fadnavis as CM and Ajit Pawar as Dy CM
Nov 23, 2019 08:16 am : PM Modi Congratulates new CM & Dy CM

This came only hours after the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress went through the final motions of forming a new coalition government, with NCP chief Sharad Pawar saying there was "unanimity" over Uddhav Thackeray as chief minister[19]

26 November 2019: Supreme Court ordered the new government to prove the majority in the legislative assembly by the evening of the next day

26 November 2019: The same day, Ajit Pawar and Fadnavis resigned as Deputy Chief Minister and Chief Minister

28 November 2019: Uddhav Thackeray was sworn-in as the 19th CM

Crisis 2[20]

  • 21 June 2022: Senior Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde Shinde and 11 other MLAs went to Surat in BJP-governed Gujarat
  • The group later moved to Guwahati in another BJP-governed state, Assam
  • Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut accused BJP of causing the revolt within Shiv Sena and attempting to topple the MVA-coalition government, implicitly mentioned later in a remark by BJP's Sushil Modi
  • 29 June 2022: Uddhav Thackeray, CM of Maharashtra, resigned from the post as well as a MLC member
  • 30 June 2022: Shinde taking stake of the government as the Chief Minister and Devendra Fadnavis as the Deputy Chief Minister

11 May 2023: A Supreme Court judgement stated that the Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari and the Maharashtra Assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar did not act as per the law, but the Uddhav Thackeray government cannot be restored due to Uddhav's resignation which led to cancellation of floor test

References:

  1. https://theprint.in/politics/kejriwal-slams-bjp-for-toppling-many-state-govts/1102505/ ↩︎

  2. https://www.onmanorama.com/news/india/2021/02/23/puducherry-cong-govt-fall-latest-in-bjp-bid-to-topple-state-govts.amp.html ↩︎ ↩︎

  3. https://www.thehindu.com/elections/manipur-2017/bjp-led-combine-invited-to-form-government-in-manipur/article61805662.ece ↩︎

  4. https://www.indiatoday.in/assembly-elections-2017/goa-assembly-election-2017/story/bjp-goa-government-congress-digvijay-singh-nda-modi-nitin-gadkari-966135-2017-03-17 ↩︎

  5. https://scroll.in/article/831578/goa-election-2017-as-neither-bjp-nor-congress-win-a-majority-the-spotlight-is-on-regional-parties ↩︎

  6. https://frontline.thehindu.com/cover-story/selfinflicted-defeat/article10094528.ece ↩︎

  7. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/jammu-and-kashmir-assembly-put-under-suspended-animation/articleshow/64668251.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst ↩︎

  8. https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/supreme-court-reserves-verdict-on-article-370-abrogation-and-j-k-restructuring-petitions-after-16-day-hearing-101693941178558.html ↩︎

  9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015–2016_Arunachal_Pradesh_political_crisis ↩︎

  10. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/how-the-political-crisis-took-root-and-grew/article28692530.ece ↩︎

  11. https://www.deccanherald.com/elections/timeline-karnataka-elections-until-yeddyurappa-swearing-670404.html ↩︎

  12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Karnataka_political_crisis ↩︎

  13. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/sc-orders-floor-test-on-saturday-10-key-highlights-from-hearing/articleshow/64218599.cms ↩︎

  14. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/kumaraswamy-to-take-oath-as-karnataka-chief-minister-at-4-30pm/articleshow/64262566.cms ↩︎

  15. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Madhya_Pradesh_political_crisis ↩︎

  16. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/2021-puducherrys-political-churnings-saw-fall-of-elected-government/articleshow/88501439.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst ↩︎

  17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Maharashtra_political_crisis ↩︎

  18. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/devendra-fadnavis-back-as-cm-ajit-deputy-cm-sena-ncp-congress-rush-to-sc/articleshow/72204326.cms ↩︎

  19. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/bjp-forms-government-in-maharashtra/articleshow/72193273.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst ↩︎

  20. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Maharashtra_political_crisis ↩︎

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