At the time of its formation in 1980, the Bharatiya Janata Party had limited success in what would become Jharkhand.

In the 1985 Bihar legislative assembly election, the BJP won 16 seats of which 14 were in regions that would become part of Jharkhand.

The BJP had long supported the creation of a state out of the southern part of Bihar they called 'Vananchal', in keeping with their naming of the Adivasis as 'Vanvasis'.

Much of this groundwork was prepared by sister organisations like the Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram, which sought to prevent Christian conversions among Adivasis and Hinduize them.

In 1990, the BJP gained 20 seats with a voteshare of at least 20% in the Jharkhand region, which stayed with the party throughout the 1990s.