India, June 4 -- When the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failed to secure a majority on its own in the 2024 elections, many enthusiastic commentators described it as a social-democratic ideological tide that marked the beginning of the BJP's end. In every state election since then, except Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir, the BJP has won the contest where it was either the incumbent or the primary challenger.

For those watching objectively, the BJP's post-2024 victories were brute Machiavellian politics at its best. Economic palliatives, local level alliances, exploiting the might of the state where needed, all tools were deployed to win and correct mistakes that led to Lok Sabha reverses. What made the job easier in most places was a compl...