BJP contests for more seats that Congress, national party status shoots up

For the first time in the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP would be fighting for more seats than Congress. In 2014, after BJP shot to a significant height in the LS tally while Congress drooped down to an unmatched low with mere 44 seats, the roles reversed for the senior party.

BJP's highest list of candidates is a symbol of its national development, whereas for Congress, its low tally is sign of pragmatism subsequent in extensive alliance-making. BJP has declared 437 candidates in LS polls, this year. On the contrary, Congress has named 423 only although there are a few more seats to be declared in Uttar Pradesh. It is doubtful that Congress tally can now exceed that of its arch rival.

Though at the center BJP also came to power in 1998 and 1999 under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the 2014 fight denoted an inflection point when Modi propelled it to a majority of its own with 282 seats. In contrast, Congress plunged to 44 MPs.

"BJP contesting more seats than Congress shows how contrary to perception, Congress has been far more successful in striking new alliances this time and the BJP has lost alliance partners since 2014," said Praveen Chakravarty, who heads the AICC's data analytics department.

However, BJP spokesman GVL Narsimha Rao said "BJP is many times bigger than Congress in terms of membership, electoral base and states under its rule. He said Congress was still contesting a disproportionately higher number of seats than its political strength which was reflective of its failure to stitch good alliances."

Congress' Chakravarty argued that there is a converse association between the number of seats national parties contest and their strike rate in polls. "BJP contested its least number of seats, 339, in 1999 elections and it won 182. Congress contested its highest tally since 1996, in 2014, and what was the result (44 MPs)," he said.

Moreover according to the figures, BJP contested 428 seats to Congress' 464 in 2014. But in 2009, BJP contested 433 to 440. And in 2004, BJP contested 364 to Congress' 414.