BJP 19 states

It was celebration time for BJP MPs as they gathered in the afternoon today, 20/12/2017. BJP had won in Gujarat for the sixth time in a row and had won Himachal Pradesh from Congress. Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly told BJP MPs “We are now ruling 19 states. Even Indira Gandhi, when she was in power, was in 18 states.”
Now there are 29 states in India. When India Gandhi became Prime Minister in 1966 there were 16 states. Haryana became a state in 1966. Himachal Pradesh became a state in 1971. Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura became states in 1972. Sikkim became a state in 1975. During Indira Gandhi’s lifetime the number of states was not more than 22. She died in 1984.
Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Goa became states in 1987. Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand (then Uttaranchal) became states in 2000. Telangana became a state in 2014.
In Jammu and Kashmir BJP is in coalition with PDP. In Goa, BJP is in coalition with regional parties. In Manipur, BJP is in coalition with NPP, NFP and LJP. In Bihar it lost the election in 2015. It is in power because Nitish Kumar dumped coalition partners RJD and Congress in July 2017 and formed a coalition with BJP. In Andhra Pradesh, BJP is junior partner to TDP. In Maharashtra it has Shiv Sena and some small parties as allies.
Congress rules Karnataka, Mizoram, Nagaland and Punjab, Left Front rules Kerala and Tripura, AIADMK rules Tamil Nadu, TRS rules Telangana, BJD rules Orissa, TMC rules West Bengal and SDF rules Sikkim.
It is a great achievement for BJP from two Lok Sabha seats in 1984 to 86 in 1989, 120 in 1991, 161 in 1996, 182 in 1998 and 1999. Then there was decline to 138 in 2004 and 116 in 2009. Then rise again to 282 Lok Sabha seats in 2014.
When Indira Gandhi was PM, Chhattisgarh was part of MP, Jharkhand was part of Bihar, Uttarakhand was part of UP and Telangana was part of Andhra Pradesh.