How India's political map changes after BJP's 3-1 assembly election win

As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is marching towards victory in three of the four states for which counting was held on December 3. BJP is all set to secure a comfortable victory in the Hindi-heartland states- Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. 

With this victory, the saffron party will now be in power in 12 states on its own, while the Congress, the second largest national party, will come 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, is in power in Uttarakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and is all set to get Madhya Pradesh back and snatch Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh from the Congress after today's vote count.

Besides, BJP is also part of the ruling coalition 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.

India, at present, has six national parties - BJP, Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), CPI(M), National People's Party (NPP), and AAP.

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 agency inputs)