NEW DELHI: The BJP has been handed yet another electoral defeat - this time in Jharkhand - and it's the fifth state that will be slipping out of the saffron party's control since December 2018.
Last year, the country's ruling party lost Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and though there was a major upside-down story in Lok Sabha polls in April-May 2019, the party is set to end circa 2019 giving away power in Jharkhand after also losing power in Maharashtra.
The story is significant as the BJP's control over 70 per cent of Indian states has now nosedived to about 35 to 40 per cent.
The impact on ensuing assembly polls in states like Bihar and also in Delhi, which go to the state-level polls next year, remains to be seen.
The RJD has already said the Jharkhand outcome will be a 'prelude' to Bihar, which goes to the polls in October-November 2020.
Echoing the same sentiment, Congress has said that the BJP will face a similar fate in Delhi, which will witness polls by February next year.
However, the story from the BJP camp is the entire narrative is not so negative as the saffron outfit has emerged as the single largest party in Maharahstra.
It recaptured Haryana in alliance with Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janata Party earlier this year.
For the saffron party, losing out states - bigger ones or smaller provinces - could have an impact in the Rajya Sabha.
There is a new trend for the BJP; the party is now enjoying the 'single largest' status in states such as Maharashtra and Rajasthan - but power seem to be eluding the saffron outfit.