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 The 2020–2021 farmer protests, which were sparked by the controversial farm laws that were later repealed, drew significant public attention, with criticism directed at the use of force and the management of the situation.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.
India is still a largely rural country, especially in the states where the ruling party won most of its seats in 2014. A map of MP, blue for the Congress, saffron for the BJP, showed that while dense population clusters voted for continuity, the larger geographical area wanted change or the emotive Badlaav, which could well become the theme for 2019. 2. Projecting today’s Assembly results onto Lok Sabha constituencies, 30 seats out of 65, possibly 35, could be with the Congress, above its existing figure of 3. That positions the party back to three digits. Its natural claim to be the core of the opposition coalition cannot be easily denied. 4. What some call Plan B or Plan C is best not pursued. It is an untested model and could cause immense harm. The campaign will have to be a joint, synergistic exercise between the central and the state leaders. Three proven administrators are without a job today, They could be drafted for full time party work, strategising, planning, assembling a first rate campaign.