POLITICAL SCIENCE PROJECT

THE RIGHTWARD SHIFT OF POLITICS

IN INDIA:

INTRODUCTION

HISTORY OF INDIAN POLITICS

The nature of Indian politics has deeply fluctuated

since independence. Parties with different ideologies
have taken power in India at different times. After
independence the Indian national congress party
maintained a vast dominance throughout India for a
very long time. During the time period of 1949-1989
India went through a one party dominance phase
under the Indian national congress. During this
phase India politics and it’s political system went
through various changes. Coalition party system
came into existence and has existed ever since.
Eventually during the late 1970s the Indian national
congress faced a downfall. Even though they still
managed to form government in 1984, 1991, 2004
and 2009 they lost their indestructible dominance.
This period also saw the rise of many regional and
national parties. After a period of congress
dominance Janata dal, Janata party, Samajwadi Janata
dal (rastriya) and the BJP also managed to form
governments. These governments were usually
coalition governments. But in 2014, the BJP did the
impossible. For nearly 30 years it has been nearly
impossible to govern without coalitions but in 2014
the impossible happened. BJP won enough seats to
form a majority in the Loksabha. No single party has
won a majority in India since 1984. Today, BJP is
enduring its second term in the administration by
winning a majority in the 2019 elections as well. We
went from electing the Indian national congress, a
largely centrist party to electing the Bharatiya Janata
Party a largely right wing party. How did this shift
come about? What does this shift show about Indian
politics? What are the implications of this shift are
some of the things that are going to be highlighted in
this project.

POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES

The concept of left, right and centre hold its genesis in

French revolution where labours, workers, peasants
were sitting to the left of king came to be known as
leftist and those sitting to the right i.e. nobles, priests
came to be known as rightist.

LEFTIST IDEOLOGY:
 Left-wing politics is more liberal in its
approach and outlook
 Left-wing economics policies involve
reducing income equality, increasing tax
rates for the wealthy, and government
spending on social programs and
infrastructure
 Left-wing politics is characterized by an
emphasis on equality, fraternity, progress,
and reform
 Left-wing nationalism is based on social
equality, popular sovereignty, and national-
determination. It associates itself closely with
national liberation movements
 Left-wing politics is traditionally against
religious institutions and believe that state
and religion must be separate from each
other (Secularism)
 The term ‘Left-wing’ has a similar origin
during the French revolution where anti-
 monarchy revolutionaries were seated on the
left side of the hall.
 Favour broad government involvement in
economic policymaking and regulation of
business.
 Strongly advocates for a welfare state.
 It is against hierarchy and stands for
strengthening of minorities.
 Limited government regulation of individual
behaviours.
 Supports nationalization and opposes
privatization.
 As per political analysts, the left-wingers
are anarchists, communists, socialists,
democratic socialists, social democrats,
left-libertarians, progressives and social
liberals. 
 AAP (Further left of Centre); CPI, CPI (M) (Far
Left).
 They have progressive views in matters
like same-sex marriages, abortion and
immigration. 

RIGHT IDEOLOGY:
 Right-wing politics are more conservative.
 Its economic policies involve low taxes, less
regulation on businesses by the government
 Right-wing politics is characterized by ideas of
authority, hierarchy, tradition, and nationalism
 Right-wing nationalism is influenced by
Romantic Nationalism where the state derives its
legitimacy from the culture it governs, including,
language, race, and custom “born” within this
culture
 Right-wing politics have always found supporters
who believe that religion should play an
expanded role in society.
 The term ‘Right-wing’ has its origins during the
days of the French Revolution (1789-1799)
where the supporters of the Monarchy were
seated on the right hall of the National Assembly
 Favour limited government involvement in
economic policy making.
 Hierarchy is considered an inevitable part of a
society and is justified based on tradition.
 They favour broad involvement of government in
regulation of individual behaviours.
 Supports capitalism and free enterprise market
economy.
 As per political analysts, the right-wingers
are conservatives, right-libertarians,
 neoconservatives, imperialists, monarchists,
fascists, reactionaries and traditionalists. 
 They are traditional in matters like same-sex
marriages, abortion and immigration. 
 Examples: BJP (Right Centre); Shiv Sena/ MNS
(Far Right). 

CENTRIST IDEOLOGY:
 Centrism is a political outlook or position that
involves acceptance or support of a balance of
social equality and a degree of social hierarchy,
while opposing political changes which would
result in a significant shift of society strongly to
either the left or the right.
 Aam admi party, inc(centre left), makkal needi
maiiam and all India trinamool congress are
examples
TIMELINE OF INDIAN POLITICS
1947-1977: Indian national congress (centre left)
1977-1979: Janata party (a collaboration of
ideologies)
1979-1980: Janata party (secular)
1980-1989: Indian national congress (centre left)
1989-1990: Janata dal (centre left)
 1990-1991: Samajwadi Janata party and Indian
national congress (centre left)
1991-1996 – Indian national congress (centre
left)
16 may 1996 – 1 June 1996: BJP (right)
1996-1998: Janata dal (united) (centre left)
1998-2004: BJP (right)
2004-2014: Indian national congress (centre left)
2014- current (2021): BJP (right)
This timeline shows the shift of politics from left to
right clearly. From electing largely leftist parties like
congress, Janata dal, we are now under the
governance of Bharatiya Janata party – a right wing
party.
DOMINANCE OF CONGRESS

Party ideology:
A centrist in its ideological orientation, the party
espouses secularism and welfare of weaker
sections and minorities.
Congress is a social democratic and social
liberal party that supports the values
of freedom, tolerance, secularism, equality,
and individual rights.
 Supports mixed economy, social security and a
system of progressive taxation.
It also has supported secular policies that
encourage equal rights for all citizens, including
those in lower castes.
“The object of the Indian National Congress is the
well-being and advancement of the people of
India and the establishment in India, by peaceful
and constitutional means, of a Socialist State
based on Parliamentary Democracy in which
there is equality of opportunity and of political,
economic and social rights and which aims at
world peace and fellowship.”
 Their key values include democracy, inclusive
growth, secularism, economic justice and
nationalism.

Important party leaders since

independence

Gandhi, subash Chandra Bose, ambedkar, rajendra

Prasad, Jawaharlal Nehru, gulzarilal nanda, lal
bahadur sashtri, narasimha rao, kamaraj, gopal
Krishna gokhale, motilal Nehru, lala lajpat rai, abul
kalam azad
Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and many more

Sonia Gandhi, Mohan Singh. Rahul Gandhi, gulam

nabi azad, sashi tharoor,

How were they able to maintain

dominance?
The congress party continued to hold a majority
since independence. For a period of almost 30 years
after independence India saw a system of one party
dominance. Congress was able to maintain this
dominance due to various reasons. Some of the
reasons include:

Legacy of the freedom struggle: The congress party

was the forefront of freedom struggle in India. From
the late 19th century, and especially after 1920,
under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, Congress
became the principal leader of the Indian
independence movement. Congress led India to
independence from Great Britain, and powerfully
influenced other anti-colonial nationalist movements
in the British Empire. The INC functioned as 'a truly
unifying force' despite a plethora of conflicting
circumstances. The congress party passed resolutions
and laid out the principles and values of independent
India, attracting a large group of people. In fact, the
congress party also largely oversaw the formation of
the constitution. It organised and played a huge a
role in countless nationalist movements and
managed to bring different sections of the Indian
society together to overthrow the British. There was
no way that this legacy was going to be forgotten by
the people.

Diversity: The congress party was largely diverse

and inclusive. It had members from all sections of
the society and ensured representation for all of
them. Initially, the congress party was largely in the
hands of elites, educated people and the upper caste
people. But eventually after various reformations,
the congress party managed to have a base that
appealed to all sections of the society. After
independence, this remained the case. It also
received support from the middle classes and
peasants because of its socialist nature. It also
managed to include members from schedule castes
and schedule tribes. Without this the congress party
wouldn’t have been able to gather support from
large sections of the society. It brought together
 diverse groups, whose interests were often
contradictory. Peasants and industrialists, urban
dwellers and villagers, workers and owners, middle,
lower and upper classes and castes, all found space
in the congress. By the time of Independence, the
Congress was transformed into a rainbow-like
social coalition broadly representing India’s
diversity in terms of classes and castes, religions
and languages and various interests.

Organizational structure: At the time of

independence the congress party was the only party
that had an organizational structure as it was formed
long before the independence. It now had a sense of
governance through the British council elections and
government of India acts. Parties were only
beginning to be formed in newly independent India.
While the congress party had a considerable stability
and a sense of governance other parties was only
now figuring out strategies and structure for their
party. It was easy for people to lean on a party with a
stable organizational structure rather than a new
party.
Popularity of the leaders: The congress party had
leaders who were immensely popular among the
people. The charisma and popularity of the members
and leaders of the party was definitely one of the
main reasons for its dominance. Leaders including
Jawaharlal Nehru, lal bahadur sashtri contributed to
the huge popularity of the leaders among people.
Mahatma Gandhi was one of the most primary
reasons for the dominance of congress party. Now
known as the father of our nation, he was a very
important leader of the congress party. He had a
huge following and seeing as he was one o the
forefront leaders of the congress party people did not
have to think twice about supporting it. The words of
the leaders carried respect and power. Their huge
involvement in the freedom struggle was recognized
and appreciated by the people by showing support to
the congress party.

Lack of a strong opposition: As the congress party

was huge after independence it’s dominance was
unchallenged due to a lack of strong opposition.
Political parties were just beginning to bloom in
India. There were no parties strong enough to form a
stable opposition to the congress party. There came
an instance were congress was its own opposition in
the parliament. Congress also enjoyed majority in
state governments. Due to a lack of strong opposition
it was hard to overthrow the dominance of the
congress party.

Collaboration of ideologies: the congress party is

neither left nor right in its ideology. Its centre left. Its
policies and ideologies appealed to a large section of
the society especially the backward sections. After
independence, India was mostly poverty-stricken.
During that time, the socialist ideas of the party
appealed to the middle and the lower classes of the
society. It’s secular, nationalist, socialist values
attracted a newly independent India, trying to rise
through the pain and damage suffered in the 200
years of colonial rule.

The fall of the congress party

Indira Gandhi and emergency period: the congress

party took it’s first blow when Nehru died. Everyone
had the same question in his or her minds: who’s
going to replace Nehru? As the time passed it turns
out no one was an ideal equal for him. After the death
of the incumbent Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Sashtri
the leadership issue within the party was sorted out
with the elevation of Indira Gandhi as the Prime
Minister of India in 1966. However, the internecine
battle among the two warring factions continued.
The infighting finally resulted in a vertical split
within the party, with the majority going with Indira
Gandhi and the formation of the Congress (I). Indira
Gandhi contested the general election in 1971 on the
slogan “Garibi Hatao” and her pro-poor posturing
created an electoral wave in her favour with the
party adding 69 more parliamentary seats and
increasing its vote share pan-India by 3%. The
elections sorted out the leadership issue once and for
all with Indira Gandhi acquiring a larger than life
image equated with the Indian goddess Durga and
starting a new chapter that became known as the
personality cult in Indian politics.

The period that followed destroyed the second tier

leadership in the party and voice for constructive
criticisms as she replaced state leaders with their
own standing with people who had no political base
and were completely loyal to her. The party’s
organizational structure was changed from the
bottom upwards and weakened its moorings with
the common people, shutting the direct line of
Communication and feedback from the electorate.
The isolation of Indira Gandhi was completed in
1972 as the party lost several by-elections including
one seat which it had not lost since the first general
elections and encountered a host of internal
problems like high inflation due to the war with
Pakistan, drought in some parts of the country and
the 1973 oil crisis.

Her falling popularity ratings combined with the

verdict of the Allahabad High Court on electoral
malpractices led to the declaration of emergency in
1975. The 21-month emergency proved to be costly
for Congress. In the 1977 elections, for the first time,
a non-Congress government was formed at the
center. Though, the new government, led by Morarji
Desai, couldn’t stay in power for the full five years,
the period was definitely a paradigm shift in Indian
politics.

She bypassed the parliament and ruled the country

by centralizing complete power in her hands with
draconian decrees and presidential promulgations
trampling constitutional bodies and democratic
rights of the people. The extra constitutional powers
appropriated by her son Sanjay Gandhi by passing
the party leadership and the excesses committed by
him not only squandered the popular mandate
bestowed on the congress but also dealt a severe
blow on the party structure that was built and
consolidated over the years. The opposition
conglomerate handed the Congress party one of the
worst electoral defeats since its inception losing
more than 200 seats and nine percent popular votes.
Even though the congress party managed to win
elections later in 1981 and so on after this period of
political unrest, it ended up leaving a permanent
mark on the party along with rupturing it’s
reputation.

After the assassination of Indira Gandhi, the

leadership baton passed on to Rajiv Gandhi who led
the party to a thumping victory in 1984 General
elections winning a record of 415 seats. The
Congress returned to power after the 1991 Lok
Sabha elections and ruled the country with a clear
cut mandate between 1971-1988 and remained the
largest political outfit between 1989 and 1996. But
its organizational structure and mass support base
was substantially strained due to personality cult and
the “high command” culture that flourished and
eroded the brand ratings of the Congress party. The
reasons for the decline of the party are manifold but
it could be primarily attributed to the centralized
leadership. The other factors include the consensus
in decision making was brushed under the carpet,
the broad basing and nurturing of leadership in
states and local level came to a grinding halt, the
invincibility tag of the party was punctured by two
electoral defeats, the ivory tower syndrome of top
leadership isolated it from grass root workers and
the party workers lost its zeal to connect with the
people and keep the momentum going for the party.
The winnabilty ratios of the Congress and the
political halo as the only party that could govern
India were seriously breached during this period.

Nepotism: the congress party has been criticized for

its nepotism on multiple occasions. It is one of the
main reasons for its decline in the political sphere.
Since 1999, the Congress has had 36 dynastic MPs
elected to the Lok Sabha. At the beginning of the 13th
Lok Sabha, 8% of Congress members of parliament
(MPs) were either descended from or married to
former MPs. Much of Congress’ dominance at
the center as well as the state level was due to the
fact that people voted in the name of Congress,
which had won freedom for the country. People felt
almost indebted to the party and continued to bring
them back to power in the hope that Swarajya (self-
rule) would actually be realized on the ground. But
people eventually realized that their aspirations
were not represented in an ideal way instead the
party was crawling with nepotism and corruption.
His family alone accounts for three prime ministers,
who ruled the country for around 37 years, while
another 10 years of governance in the 21st century
was also largely led by the Gandhi-Nehru dynasty.

Even now, the Gandhi family seems to be on the

forefront of the congress party making it hard for the
hard working members of the party to actually
progress. Recent drift about the Gandhi’s’ leadership
is also notable. Even though the presence of
nepotism is seen in other parties too, the congress
party has always been branded as a party with
crippling nepotism.

Corruption: its no secret that the congress party has

been accused of and been caught of corruption
scandals multiple times. During the Nehru era, the
Congress often collected funds from industrialists
and businessmen, which at times landed the party
and the government in trouble. Numerous
corruption scandals eventually ruptured the already
inconsistent reputation of the congress party. Bofors
scandal was one of India’s major weapons-contract
political scandals that occurred in the 1980’s and
1990’s. This scandal was brought into light accusing
the then Indian prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, and
several other Indian and Swedish government
officials of receiving major kickbacks from Bofors
AB — a Swedish arms manufacturer. It was alleged
that Bofors had paid Rs. 640 million in the form of
kickbacks to the Indian politicians and important
defense officials to win a bid to supply India’s 155
mm field howitzer, a short gun for firing shells on
high trajectories at low velocities.

The scale of the scandal was so huge that it led to the

defeat of the congress party in the 1989 general
elections. The Delhi High court in 2004 quashed all
charges of payoffs against former PM Rajiv Gandhi
and others. But the party still suffered a blow and
corruption came to be repeatedly branded on the
congress party.
The coal allocation scam, also referred to as
‘Coalgate’ is a political scandal swamped the UPA
government in 2012. This scam hit the headlines
after the Comptroller and Auditor General of India
(CAG) accused the Indian government of allocating
over 194 coal blocks to public and private
enterprises (PSE’s) for captive use in an ad hoc
manner between 2004 and 2009.
According to CAG the presumptive loss that occurred
due to the windfall gains made to allottees was Rs
1.856 lakh crores. After BJP government filed a
complaint with the Central Vigilance Commission, the
CVC directed CBI to probe the matter for corruption
industrialists like Naveen Jindal and Kumar
Mangalam Birla were named in the FIR. Recently
a Delhi court sentenced H C Gupta( former coal
secretary), K S Kropha and K C Samria to three-year
imprisonment with a fine of Rs. 50,000 in connection
with the scam. These bureaucrats were accused of
being involved in the scam during the UPA
government, which again is a huge blow for the
congress party.

The 2G scam which Time magazine ranked the

second most abuse of power in history, is a scandal
that nobody can forget. Politicians and government
officials under the United Progressive Alliance
(Congress) coalition government were named in this
scam. This scam surfaced when Comptroller and
Auditor General of India revealed that the
government, in 2008, had undercharged mobile
telephone companies for frequency allocation
licenses that used to create 2G spectrum
subscriptions for cell phones. According to the CAG
of India “the difference between the money collected
and that mandated to be collected was Rs 1.76
trillion.

In February 2012, the Supreme Court declared the

allotment of spectrum as “unconstitutional and
arbitrary” and cancelled the 122 licences issued in
2008 under A. Raja, then Minister of Communications
and IT.

The congress party was also allegedly involved in the

commonwealth scandal. These numerous corruption
scandals branded the congress party as a
predominantly corrupt party permanently.

The Congress under Nehru was an omnibus party,

which co-opted the ideological shades of the
rightcentre-left and built a consensus to rule India
giving no leeway to political parties of left and right
orientation to spread their political and electoral
wings. The leadership and party organisation were in
equilibrium and equally strong with no major
opposition to challenge its supremacy. The
ascendancy of Indira after a tough fight with right
leadership in the Congress and subsequent expulsion
paved the way for centre to left policies making her
one of the most popular leader of her time. The
charismatic leadership of Indira weakened the party
rank and file and she banked on centralised and
authoritative decisions to rule the country and
maintain the single party dominance of the Congress.
The party at present does not have a strong leader
and workable structure and its ideological agenda of
leftist-welfareist policies for the poor has been
hijacked by the BJP which is using it cleverly to
position itself as the single dominant party in Indian
politics.

A few other leftist parties in India include:

Aam admi party: Aam admi party was formed on 26

November 2012 by Arvind kejriwal and a few others.
Arvind kejriwal is now the chief minister of Delhi.
The party is centre, centre – left in its ideology.  It
came into existence following differences between
the activists Arvind Kejriwal and Anna
Hazare regarding whether or not to politicize the
popular India Against Corruption movement. The
party made its electoral debut in the 2013 Delhi
Legislative Assembly election, where it emerged as
the second-largest party, winning 28 of the 70 seats.
With no party obtaining an overall majority, the AAP
formed a minority government with conditional
support from the Indian National Congress. In
the 2015 Delhi Legislative Assembly election, AAP
won 67 of the 70 seats in the assembly. In the 2020
Delhi Legislative Assembly election, the Aam Aadmi
Party won 62 out of the 70 seats.

CPI (M): THIS PARTY WAS FORMED IN 1964. Its

entirely leftist in it’s ideology. As of 2020, CPI(M) is
leading the state government in Kerala and has
representation in the following Legislative
assemblies in the states of west Bengal, Tripura,
Rajasthan, Bihar, Himachal
Pradesh, Odisha and Maharashtra. The Left Front
ruled the state for seven consecutive terms 1977–
2011, five with Jyoti Basu as Chief Minister and two
under Buddhadev Bhattacharya. The CPI (M) is the
dominant force in the alliance. In the 2011 West
Bengal Legislative Assembly election the Left Front
failed to gain a majority of seats and left office.

RISE OF BJP

THE FORMATION OF BJP

The BJP traces its roots to the Bharatiya Jana

Sangh (BJS; Indian People’s Association), which was
established in 1951 as the political wing of the pro-
Hindu group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS;
“National Volunteers Corps”) by Shyama Prasad
Mukherjee. The BJS advocated the rebuilding of India
in accordance with Hindu culture and called for the
formation of a strong unified state.
In 1967 the BJS gained a substantial foothold in the
Hindi-speaking regions of northern India. Ten years
later the party, led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, joined
three other political parties to form the Janata
Party and took over the reins of government. Plagued
by factionalism and internal disputes, however, the
government collapsed in July 1979. The BJP was
formally established in 1980, following a split by
dissidents within the Janata coalition, whose leaders
wanted to prohibit elected BJS officials from
participating in the RSS. (Critics of the RSS have
consistently accused it of political and religious
extremism, particularly because one of its members
had assassinated Mahatma Gandhi.) The BJS
subsequently reorganized itself as the BJP under the
leadership of Vajpayee, Lal Krishan Advani, and
Murali Manohar Joshi.

RISE AND DOMINATION OF BJP

As of today, BJP is the single largest party in the Lok
Sabha with 303 seats far more than the required
majority. But the BJP wasn’t always as successful as it
is today.
During the 1980s the newly emergent BJP under the
leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee pursued a
moderate position, a decision that immediately
provoked a response from the RSS and elements of
the Sangh Parivar. Vajpayee’s decision to chart a
middle path was most likely based on a strategic
calculation intended to retain supporters of the
erstwhile Janata Party that had joined the
BJP. However, the RSS openly expressed its
displeasure with the BJP’s moderate turn. In fact,
many observers have argued that the RSS failed to
rally its cadres to the BJP cause in 1984. The BJP
performed poorly in these elections, which were held
after the tragic demise of Indira Gandhi, winning just
two seats in the Lok Sabha.  The electoral failure was
seen as proof that the moderate policy of Vajpayee
would not work. Lal Krishna Advani, who promptly
revived the BJS’s hard-line Hindutva as the core
ideology of the party, replaced Vajpayee as BJP
president. Advani used the Hindutva rhetoric of
“pseudo secularism” and “Muslim appeasement” to
great effect in winning popular support among the
Hindus, aided by the soft-Hindutva politics the
Indian National Congress played then.
In the 1996 general elections, the BJP’s seats in Lok
Sabha went up to 161 and it staked claim to form
the government as the single largest party, which
was accepted. Thus, the first ever BJP-led
government was formed under the leadership of
Vajpayee but it lasted for only 13 days as it failed
to garner the support of other non-Congress, non-
Left political parties to muster a majority. Vajpayee
resigned, rather than face a vote of confidence in
Parliament.

In the next general polls in 1998, the BJP obtained

182 seats in the Lok Sabha and formed a coalition
government called the National Democratic
Alliance (NDA), which lasted 13 months from 19
March 1998 to 17 April 1999 when it lost a no-
confidence motion by a single vote. Thereafter, in
September-October 1999, the BJP-led NDA won
270 seats in the general elections, with the BJP
once again getting 182 seats. Vajpayee became
prime minister for the third time and his
government lasted the full term until the next
general polls in 2004.

 Although Vajpayee sought to resolve the country’s

long-standing conflict with Pakistan over
the Kashmir region and made India a world leader in
information technology, the coalition lost its majority
in the 2004 parliamentary elections to the Congress
Party’s United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition,
and Vajpayee resigned from office. The party’s share
of seats in the Lok Sabha was reduced from 137 to
116 in the 2009 parliamentary elections, as the UPA
coalition again prevailed.
As the 2014 Lok Sabha elections grew near, however,
the BJP’s fortunes began to rise, largely because of
growing discontent with Congress Party
rule. Narendra Modi, the longtime chief minister
(head of government) of Gujarat state, was chosen to
lead the BJP electoral campaign, thus making him the
party’s candidate for prime minister. The polling—
held in several stages in April and May—produced an
overwhelming victory for the BJP. The party won 282
seats outright, a clear majority in the chamber, and
its NDA partners added 54 more. Shortly after
election results were announced, Modi was named
head of the party members in parliament, and he
began forming a government that included not only
senior BJP officials but also several leaders from
parties allied with the coalition. Modi was sworn in
as prime minister on May 26, 2014. That’s where it
all started.
BJP rule included a mixture of policies relating to the
economy and to promoting hindutva. With moves like
demonetization and introduction of GST, BJP stepped
up it’s game of governance. These moves (gst)
however faced large criticisms as it drastically
affected the farmers.

In late 2018 the BJP suffered large election losses.

Five states held elections in November and
December, and the BJP lost in all five, including its
strongholds of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan,
and Chhattisgarh. The loss was attributed to the rise
in the cost of living and in unemployment, and Modi’s
grandiose promises on economic growth remained
unfulfilled. A security crisis over Jammu and
Kashmir in February 2019, which raised tensions
with Pakistan to their highest level in decades, won
back some support for the party. As elections for the
Lok Sabha drew near, the BJP dominated media
attention. The party was returned to power in a
landslide victory in the spring of 2019 and expanded
its representation in the legislative body. Now, BJP
enjoys a majority in the parliament for the second
term and it’s support seems to be getting bigger
everyday.
HOW WERE THEY ABLE TO DOMINATE?

APPEALING TO THE HUNDUTVA BASE

The BJP advocated hindutva (“Hindu-ness”),

an ideology that sought to define Indian culture in
terms of Hindu values, and it was highly critical of
the secular policies and practices of the Indian
National Congress (Congress Party). The BJP began
to have electoral success in 1989, when it capitalized
on anti-Muslim feeling by calling for the erection of a
Hindu temple in an area in Ayodhya considered
sacred by Hindus but at that time occupied by the
Babri Masjid (Mosque of Bā bur). By 1991 the BJP had
considerably increased its political appeal, capturing
117 seats in the Lok Sabha (lower chamber of the
Indian parliament) and taking power in four states.

The demolition of the Babri Masjid in December

1992 by organizations seen to be associated with the
BJP caused a major backlash against the party. The
mosque’s destruction also led to violence throughout
the country that left more than 1,000 dead. The party
was regarded with skepticism and suspicion by many
committed to secularism in contemporary India.
To alleviate fear among the public, restore
confidence in the party, and expand its base, the BJP’s
leaders undertook a series of rath yatras (“journeys
on the carriage”), or political marches, in which the
Hindu god Rama was symbolically invoked as the
symbol of cultural renaissance.

After its coming to power in 2014, the BJP appealed

to notions of hindutva through measures such as
banning the sale of cows for slaughter, a move later
overturned by the Supreme Court. The party likewise
legislated name changes for certain jurisdictions.

MODI-AMITSHAH PARTNERSIP:

The rise of Modi has also marked the rise of Amit

Shah as BJP president. Rajnath Singh, who headed
the party in the run-up to the 2014 electoral
victory, reportedly wanted to continue in the post
and stay out of the government. But this was not
acceptable to Modi as that could have meant a dual
power centre.  Rajnath Singh had an excellent
rapport with the RSS and that is why Modi did not
want him to continue. The name of party General
Secretary J P Nadda, a politician from Himachal
Pradesh, was brought into contention and the RSS
was agreeable to him. The move was made to
juxtapose Shah against Nadda.  Modi resolved it by
inducting Singh and Nadda into his cabinet and
appointing Shah, his old and trusted colleague
from Gujarat, as party president. [10]
This was an exception to the long-held convention
that the prime minister and the party president
should come from different states. Shah has
galvanized the party, bringing in certain
ruthlessness and unprecedented administrative
acumen in the way the organisation is run. It is said
that his party colleagues are more “in awe” of him
than admiring.[11]
Upon taking charge, Shah introduced many
changes in the party’s administrative style and
structure. He modernized the party set-up and
developed a system that rewards individuals who
deliver. He ushered in a corporate-style system of
vertical heads for programmes, in contrast to the
horizontal nature of the party under the previous
presidents. [12]
For Shah and the party, elections are “nothing less
than war”. His advice to party colleagues after
taking charge was: Elections are to be fought with
clarity of mind and with the single objective of
victory.[13] He enjoys the total support of Modi,
stands firm in his decisions and brooks no
interference from any leader. By most accounts, he
has a no-nonsense style of leadership, and keeps a
tight schedule and long hours of work, inspiring his
team to follow suit. [14] Shah has also developed
closer working relations with the RSS, as a result of
which the RSS leadership and functionaries are
playing a bigger role in running the organisation.

MASSIVE FAILURES OF THE CONGRESS PARTY

The massive landslide victory of BJP was almost

seen coming because of the huge failures of the
congress party. With crippling corruption and
nepotism in it’s party congress lacked stability. Its
organizational structure was disrupted and its
ideologies were unrealistic and out dated. BJP’s
promises of employment for the 12 million Indian
youth looking for jobs every year appealed to the
people.

BALAKOT AIR STRIKE