The Bharatiya Janta Party or the BJP is India’s biggest national party and currently rules the country. It was formed in 1980, though its origins lie in the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, which was founded in 1951. The BJP has been in power since 2014, with Narendra Modi as India’s prime minister – the longest-serving non-Congress PM.
The BJP is known to be right-wing in its political and economic ideologies. Its ideological fount is the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or the RSS, and many of its top leaders were youth leaders in the RSS. The BJP, as of March 2024, is in power alone or in alliance in more than 18 of the 28 states in the country.
Given the inevitability of a coalition, led by either of the two national parties, the question is whether the Congress has been successful in building physical and emotional bridges with the regional parties and their leaders, some of whom have legitimate ambitions for the top job. Compare its almost farcical forays towards AAP with the seam less interoperability the SP, BSP and RLD have achieved in Uttar Pradesh, with eleven times as many seats. 2. Government formation was a walk in the park in 2004. The Left, with sixty MPs, did not wish to join, offered outside support. CM YSR, who got a big chunk from AP, told the leadership, I will take care of my MPs, don’t spare too many portfolios, give firms from our state large infrastructure projects. This time, each potential ally will have a wish list. No automatic reservation of the Big Four portfolios for the Congress. The Congress will have to relearn coalition dharma.
From the pits of 44, ANYTHING looks like “Very well”. But, the hard fact is: Congress will remain on the opposition benches for at least another 5 years.