India’s current government is led by the Bharatiya Janta Party or the BJP. It is also the country’s largest national party. It was formed in 1980, though its origins lie in the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, which was founded in 1951. The Jana Sangh was closely associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu nationalist organization that continues to play a significant role in shaping the BJP’s ideology.
The party first came to power at the center in 1996, but its government lasted only 13 days. It returned to power in 1998, forming a coalition under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), with Atal Bihari Vajpayee as Prime Minister. His tenure saw India conducting nuclear tests in 1998, economic reforms, and a focus on infrastructure development. However, the BJP lost power in 2004 to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
The BJP made a historic comeback in 2014 by securing 282 seats out of 543 in the Lok Sabha, with Narendra Modi as India’s prime minister. Major policy changes include the revocation of Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019, and the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 that criminalized triple talaq in India.
The government’s handling of several protests and crises has faced widespread scrutiny. The 2020–2021 farmer protests, which were sparked by the controversial farm laws that were later repealed, drew significant public attention, with criticism directed at the use of force and the management of the situation. Similarly, the government’s response to the 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests raised concerns over its handling of dissent, particularly the use of force. The BJP’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic also attracted criticism, especially regarding the lack of transparency around the death toll, shortages of medical resources like oxygen cylinders, and inadequate preparedness during the second wave.
Additionally, the ongoing inter-tribe conflict in Manipur, which erupted in 2023, has faced criticism for the government’s perceived failure to take adequate action, with accusations of poor crisis management and insufficient intervention in addressing the escalating violence.
In Kolkata, there are certain localities such as Gulshan which are no-go zones for the Kolkata Police. The city is teeming with millions of illegal Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh. The TMC’s votebank politics has led to this pathetic situation. The political patronage from Mamata Banerjee and Firhad Hakim (Mayor of Kolkata) has meant that the security agencies look the other way while an astounding demographic shift is underway. Places like Barasat are Muslim-majority now. While Kolkata is on it’s way to the same fate.
Muslim goons have started enforcing Sharia laws in large parts of the countryside. Even within the city, certain localities are governed by Sharia laws. The situation has deteriorated to such an extent that celebrating Hindu festivals such as Durga Puja and Saraswati Puja require massive police and RAF deployment. This year, several companies of RAF and Kolkata Police had to be deployed to ensure that Saraswati Puja festivities were not disrupted by violent radical Islamists. However, the organisers of these Pujas were given death threats and rape threats by these TMC Muslim goons right in front of the police. The police forces looked on helplessly as they were under instructions to not touch these TMC “bahubalis”.
India is awash with illegal immigrants. The worst sufferers are the states of Assam and West Bengal. In Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma has taken a tough stance against illegal immigrants and it’s pating off. New arrivals are negligible.
Unfortunately, in West Bengal continued patronage from Mamata Banerjee has resulted in unabated illegal immigration across the Indo-Bangladesh border. In a desperate bid to increase the size of her captive votebank, Ms. Banerjee has endangered the nation. The demographic shift in West Bengal is stark and frightening. Such is the severity of the situation that in most rural schools, Saraswati Puja is not held for fear of violence from Muslim goons.