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 The 2020–2021 farmer protests, which were sparked by the controversial farm laws that were later repealed, drew significant public attention, with criticism directed at the use of force and the management of the situation.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.
Prof PK Sharma, Freelance Journalist,Barnala (Punjab)
The worth and popularity of any political outfit cannot only be tested and gauged on the basis of numbers count alone !
There are a number of factors which determine the meaning as well as the relevance of any political party or organisation anywhere in the world !
In this context, a political organization should be a blending of both quality and quantity but more of quality ! Then credibility,vision,
ideology, objectivity, morality , sociability, and adherence to truth and values are the ornaments that go a long way in the making of
an organisation !
So far as the track record of BJP is concerned, the party has not a long history to its credit (almost three decades old). It has been striving all these years to be in the forefront !
The party has been in the lime light, known in the political circles as a cadre and disciplined party ! Then party following the agenda of
Hindutva vehemently has a permanent communal tag attached with its name ! Now new definition of cadre and discipline in BJP only implies NaMo and Amit Shah ! They are indeed now the ” be end ” and ” be all” of BJP !
The year 2014 saw the party soaring quite high in form of Lok Sabha Polls “unexpected success” ! Riding on a wave for change and negative vote factor, BJP led by NaMo secured 282 seats in the battle of ballot box then !
For want of vision, foresight, objectivity, collective wisdom, credibility, truth, broad-minded outlook and democratic spirit BJP
very badly and miserably frittered away “the golden opportunity” that came its way by chance to shape the destiny of the nation !
The powerful duo of NaMo- Amit Shah instead of concentrating on delivering the goods, honouring the poll promises and offering
good- different governance it accorded top priority to expanding party and personal base by winning assembly polls in non-BJP ruled states.
The duo sacrificed national interests at the altar of personal ambitions, whims, impulses and BJP’s expansion overlooking the “nation above everything” spirit. Consequently, they succeeded in making BJP the largest party of the world in terms of numbers as claimed by Amit Shah at the cost of India that is BHARAT ! In the bargain, BJP grew but nation had to face the music and shrink !
Now almost more than four years at the steering of the government and party, the duo has failed to generate employment, remove poverty, credit Rs 15 lakh in every one’s bank account, bring back black money stashed in foreign banks, double farmers’ income, boost up economy, offer affordable quality education, offer affordable health care system, improve relations with neighboring nations, shape sound foreign policy, arrest communal tensions and overcome insurgency- trans border terrorism etc.
Their top most priority to cling to power and win polls everywhere in the nation for pretty long resulted in poor and malgovernance !
Their failure to address the burning and sensitive issues and offer amicable solutions by redressing the grievances of the people did dash masses’ hopes to the ground .
The duo taking the things for granted tried to thrive on ploys, rhetorics, whims, lies and fallacious promises but now stand very thoroughly exposed ! The demonetisation disaster, foreign policy in tatters, ill planned and ill executed GST are a few examples
of the hopeless manner in which the duo have governed the nation !
All in all, it remains a fact that BJP may have swelt quantitatively but qualitatively it has shrunk reaching the lowest ebb !
The nation is now in for a new, innovative, fair, free, fearless, advanced and inclusive narrative haunting the minds of the voters who are determined to translate it into actuality by discarding the authoritarian and megalomanic rule of the day !
Prof PK Sharma, Freelance Journalist
Pom Anm Nest, Barnala(Punjab)
No figure quoted by modi shah can be relied upon to be true – their fake and exaggerated claims are designed to mislead people – even if they succeed in fooling some , they think they’ve made progress ! Bluffmasters !!!
BJP always cultivated habit of making not only false claims but deliberately keep the people confusing with numbers. One thing is crystal clear their numbers in turns of donations has crossed all the limits
We know that BJP cannot count. I have seen those charts which show 72 is lower than 56. It is damn joke. They don’t demonstrate even basic sense and honestly they are insulting every Indian’s intelligence when they put out charts like that. We will also become a laughing stock for rest of the world, if silly charts like this are put out and the anchors on TV channel defend them.