Assembly Elections 2023: BJP to rule 12 states on its own with victories in Raj, MP and Chhattisgar , Congress down to 3

With BJP inching closer to a landslide victory in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the saffron party's footprint has now reached 12 states along with four states where it is part of a coalition government, while Congress is down to three after losing Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.The Aam Aadmi Party, with its government in Delhi and Punjab, is third among national parties.The BJP, which rules the centre and is in power in Uttarakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Assam, Tripura, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh, is all set to get Madhya Pradesh back and snatch Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh from the Congress after today's vote count.Apart from ruling in these 12 states on its own, the Bhartiya Janata Party is also part of the ruling coalition government in four states - Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Sikkim.The Congress will now be in power in three states on its own - Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana, where it's on its way to victory, defeating its closest rival, the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).The Congress is also part of the ruling coalition in Bihar and Jharkhand and is an ally of the DMK which rules Tamil Nadu, however, it is not a part of the state government.The results also consolidated AAP's position as a major Opposition party, making it the second biggest Opposition party with government in two states, as Congress' share declined."After today's results, Aam Aadmi Party emerges as the largest opposition party in north India with two state governments - Punjab and Delhi," AAP leader Jasmine Shah said in a post on X.The next round of assembly polls will be held in 2024, when Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh will go to polls. Assembly polls are also pending for Jammu and Kashmir.With inputs from PTI