In 2022, India witnessed Rajya Sabha elections, 5 Lok Sabha by-polls, 7 State Legislative Assembly elections, and 28 Assembly by-polls. The Parliament also elected the country’s President and Vice-president this year. The year witnessed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) fight to maintain the dominance in the Parliament and State assemblies, while the Opposition, especially the Congress, had continued to struggle against the BJP. Though most of the major parties had their ups and downs this year, it was the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that made the year a memorable one by clinching Punjab Assembly and increasing its Rajya Sabha tally.
Here is how elections and by-polls panned out for various political parties in India in 2022:
States and Ruling Parties
In beginning of the year 2022, the BJP ruled or was part of 17 state governments, while Congress had 5 states, including the coalition govts in Maharashtra with Uddhav-led Shiv Sena and in Jharkhand with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). Currently, the BJP holds 16 states. It lost Himachal Pradesh in Assembly elections and Bihar after Janata Dal (United), split with the BJP, formed government with help of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress. However, the BJP came back to power in Maharashtra by toppling Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government with the help of rebel Shiv Sena MLAs.
The Congress, on the other hand, is part of 5 state governments, including Jharkhand and Bihar. It has also registered a thumping win in Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections. The AAP defeated the incumbent Congress government in Punjab Assembly elections and also opened their account in Gujarat Assembly in 2022. Meanwhile, the regional parties held Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal and Mizoram.
Rajya Sabha & Lok Sabha
At the beginning of the year the BJP had 96 Rajya Sabha seats. Though the tally touched 100-mark in May, it reduced to 92 after the Rajya Sabha elections held in June. The Congress also lost 4 seats in the upper house of the Parliament. The AAP has made most gains this year - 7 seats. Its tally in the House increased to 10 from 3 in 2022 after winning the Punjab Assembly elections. The YSR Congress from Telangana also increased their tally to 9 from 6. Meanwhile, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD, 3 seats), Naga People’s Front (NPF, 1 seat), and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP, 1 seat) have lost their representations in Rajya Sabha.
No big changes registered in Lok Sabha. While BJP, Trinamool Congress, and SAD’s tally increased by 1 seat this year, Samajwadi Party (SP) lost 2 seats. The AAP lost its only seat in the lower house of the Parliament as it lost the seat to SAD in the by-poll necessitated by the resignation of Bhagwant Singh Mann after he won the Assembly polls in Punjab and became the Chief Minister.
