Bharatiya Janata Party is a nationalist political party which is determined to establish India as a strong, prosperous and powerful nation on the world stage. With the aim of making India a capable nation, BJP was formed on 6th April, 1980 in a workers convention held at Kotla Ground, New Delhi, whose first president was elected Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. With its establishment, BJP registered its strong participation in Indian democracy by being vocal on the issues of international, national and public interest and gave new dimensions to Indian politics. Bharatiya Janata Party has played a leading role in ushering in a coalition era by making Indian politics, which was known as a one-party democratic system with monopoly of Congress, bipolar. The foundation of development based politics in the country was also laid by BJP after coming to power in various states and during the BJP led NDA rule in the entire country. Today, after three decades, the people of the country have given full majority to a single party under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and BJP led NDA government is in power at the center with a huge majority.
background
Although the Bharatiya Janata Party was formed on 6 April 1980, its history is linked to the Bharatiya Jana Sangh. With the attainment of independence and the partition of the country, a new political situation arose in the country. After Gandhiji’s assassination, a new political conspiracy was hatched in the country by banning the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. After the demise of Sardar Patel, Nehru’s authoritarianism started becoming stronger in the Congress. Due to the absence of both Gandhi and Patel, the Congress came under the grip of ‘Nehruism’ and many issues like minority appeasement, license-permit-quota raj, negligence on national security, kneeling policy on national issues like Kashmir, ignoring Indian interests in international matters etc. started worrying the nationalist citizens in the country. Frustrated by ‘Nehruism’ and India’s silence on the atrocities being committed on Hindu minorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh, Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee resigned from the Nehru cabinet. Meanwhile, some volunteers of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, while facing the brunt of the ban, felt that due to the Sangh’s principle of keeping distance from the political field, they were not only isolated, but the Sangh was also being targeted politically. In such a situation, the need for a nationalist political party was felt in the country. As a result, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh was established on 21 October 1951 in Delhi’s Raghomal Arya Kanya High School under the chairmanship of Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee.
Bharatiya Jana Sangh, under the leadership of Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, launched a movement on the issue of Kashmir and national integrity and opposed giving any kind of special privileges to Kashmir. As a result of Nehru’s authoritarian attitude, Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee was put in jail in Kashmir, where he died under mysterious circumstances. The task of strengthening a new party fell on the shoulders of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya. Bharatiya Jana Sangh also played an important role in the Indo-China war and strongly opposed Nehru’s policies on national security. In 1967, for the first time, under the leadership of Bharatiya Jana Sangh and Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, the long-standing monopoly of Congress on Indian politics was broken, due to which Congress was defeated in the assembly elections of many states.
Bharatiya Jana Sangh merged with Janata Party
In the seventies, public discontent began to emerge in the country against the increasingly autocratic Congress government led by the then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi. Along with the Navnirman movement in Gujarat, a student movement began in Bihar. The Congress adopted the path of suppressing these movements. Loknayak Jaiprakash Narayan accepted the leadership of the movement and public discontent against the Congress rule became vocal across the country. In 1971, an external emergency was imposed on the country in the context of the Indo-Pak war and the rebellion in Bangladesh, which continued even after the war ended. The demand for its removal also began to intensify. Frightened by the public movements, the Congress government of Indira Gandhi tried to suppress the voice of the people through repression. As a result, on 25 June 1975, the second emergency was imposed on the country in the form of ‘internal emergency’ under Section 352 of the Indian Constitution. All the big leaders of the country were either put under house arrest or put in jails. Newspapers were censored. Many nationalist organizations including the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh were banned. Thousands of activists were arrested and jailed under MISA. The country’s democracy was under threat. The mass struggle was intensified and underground activities also increased. Frightened by the growing mass movements, Indira Gandhi dissolved the Lok Sabha on 18 January 1977 and expressed her desire to get a new mandate. On the call of Jayaprakash Narayan, a new national party, the Janata Party, was formed. The opposition parties fought the elections on a single platform and due to the short time left for the elections, the Janata Party could not be fully formed as a political party. The Congress was defeated badly in the general elections and the Janata Party and other opposition parties came to power with a huge majority. As per the earlier announcement, on 1 May 1977, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh merged with the Janata Party in a convention of about 5000 representatives.
Formation of BJP
The experiment of Janata Party could not last long. Within two-and-a-half years, internal contradictions started surfacing. Congress also did not refrain from using political tactics to break the Janata Party. The issue of ‘dual membership’ was raised to isolate the members who had joined Janata Party from Bharatiya Jana Sangh. Objections were raised on having links with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. It was said that Janata Party members cannot become members of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. On April 4, 1980, the National Working Committee of Janata Party banned its members from becoming members of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Members formerly associated with Bharatiya Jana Sangh opposed this and separated from Janata Party and announced a new organization ‘Bharatiya Janata Party’ on April 6, 1980. Thus, Bharatiya Janata Party was established.
Thoughts and Philosophy
The Bharatiya Janata Party is continuously active in building a strong, powerful, prosperous, capable and self-reliant India. The party envisions a nation that represents a progressive and enlightened society with a modern outlook and, taking inspiration from the ancient Indian civilization and culture and its values, should be established on the world stage as a great ‘Vishwa Shakti’ and ‘Vishwa Guru’. Along with this, it should have the ability to influence the nations of the world to establish world peace and a just international system.
BJP considers a democratic state as its foundation while working faithfully towards the values and principles enshrined in the Indian Constitution. The party’s goal is to establish a democratic state in which political, social and economic justice, equal opportunity and freedom of religious belief and expression are ensured to all citizens without any discrimination on the basis of caste, religion or gender.
BJP has adopted ‘Ekatma-Manavdarshan’ propounded by Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya as its ideological philosophy. The party also has a special emphasis on Antyodaya, good governance, cultural nationalism, development and security. The party has also expressed its allegiance to five major principles, which are called ‘Panchnishtha’. These five principles (Panchnishtha) are – nationalism and national integrity, democracy, positive secularism (Sarvadharmasamabhaav), Gandhian socialism (establishment of exploitation-free harmonious society through Gandhian approach on socio-economic issues) and value-based politics.
Achievements
Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee was elected the first president of the Bharatiya Janata Party. With its inception, the BJP became active in national politics. The non-Congress parties once again came together on the issue of Bofors and corruption and the Congress under the leadership of Rajiv Gandhi suffered a huge defeat in the 1989 general elections. The BJP supported the National Front government formed under the leadership of V.P. Singh from outside. Meanwhile, a movement for Ram Mandir started in the country. The then BJP president Shri Lal Krishna Advani started a Rath Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya. Fearing the huge public support received by the Ram Mandir movement and the increasing popularity of the BJP, Advani ji’s Rath Yatra was stopped midway. As a result, the BJP withdrew support from the National Front government. And the V.P. Singh government fell and Chandrashekhar became the next Prime Minister of the country with the support of the Congress. In the coming general elections, the public support for the BJP continued to increase. Meanwhile, the Congress led by Narasimha Rao and the United Front governments supported by the Congress ruled the country during which many ‘records’ of corruption, anarchy and bad governance were established.
In the 1996 general elections, BJP got 161 seats in the Lok Sabha. BJP got 85 seats in 1989, 120 in 1991 and 161 in 1996. The public support of BJP was constantly increasing. For the first time, BJP government was sworn in in 1996 under the leadership of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, but due to lack of sufficient support, this government could last only 13 days. After this, in the 1998 general elections, BJP won 182 seats and the National Democratic Alliance government was sworn in under the leadership of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. But due to withdrawal of support by AIADMK led by Jayalalitha, the government fell by one vote during the trust vote in the Lok Sabha, behind which was the unethical conduct in which the then Congress Chief Minister of Orissa, Giridhar Gomang did not resign from the Lok Sabha membership even while being in office and voted against the government during the trust vote. Due to this illegal and unethical conduct of the Congress, the country had to face general elections again. In 1999, the BJP again won 182 seats and the National Democratic Alliance got 306 seats. Once again, the BJP-led NDA government was formed under the leadership of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The BJP-led NDA government established many new standards of development under the leadership of Shri Atal Bihari. Successes like the Pokhran nuclear explosion, successful launch of Agni missile, Kargil victory raised India’s stature on international platforms. Construction of national highways, improvement in the public distribution system, new initiatives and experiments in education and health, rapid development in the fields of agriculture, science and industry as well as keeping inflation under control are many achievements to this government’s credit.
Many effective steps were taken to improve Indo-Pak relations and to solve internal problems of the country like Naxalism, terrorism, separatism in Jammu & Kashmir and North Eastern states. Many decisive steps were taken to make the country prosperous and strong by strengthening national unity and integrity and keeping good governance and security at the centre. The NDA regime under the leadership of the then Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister Shri Lal Krishna Advani initiated a new politics of development in the country.
Current Status
Today BJP has emerged as a major nationalist force in the country and is determined for good governance, development, unity and integrity of the country.
For 10 years, the party played an active and brilliant role as the opposition. In 2014, for the first time under the leadership of Shri Narendra Modi, the BJP formed a government with full majority in the country, which is today rebuilding a proud India with the slogan of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’. Under the leadership of National President Shri Amit Shah, the BJP has become the world’s largest political party with about 11 crore members.
On 26 May 2014, Shri Narendra Damodardas Modi was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India. Under the leadership of Modi ji, the BJP government has achieved unprecedented achievements in a short time. He reestablished India’s dignity in the world, reestablished people’s faith in politics. He ushered in a new era through many innovative schemes. The country has moved forward on the path of Antyodaya, good governance, development and prosperity. Economic and social reforms are providing a way to live a secure life. New policies for farmers from loans to fertilizers like Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, Soil Health Card, etc. have awakened the spirit of rapid development of agriculture. This is a new era of good governance. Whether it is the Adarsh Gram Yojana, Swachhata Abhiyan or the campaign to make India healthy with the help of yoga, all these steps have given a new energy to the country. The BJP’s Modi government has taken strong steps towards making India modern and strong with schemes like ‘Make in India’, ‘Skill India’, Amrit Mission, Deendayal Gram Jyoti Yojana, Digital India. Many schemes like Jan Dhan Yojana, Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana are initiating a new revolution in the country. The BJP government has gifted the countrymen the world’s largest social security scheme.
Contribution of BJP in Indian Politics
Bharatiya Jansangh or BJP is the only party which has been continuously fighting for national integrity, complete merger of Kashmir with India, countering Pakistani attacks in tribal guise, abolition of permit system and Article 370 and against separatism, otherwise it would have been difficult for Kashmir to survive.
Goa Liberation Movement, Satyagraha and Sacrifice. The government took military action only after much pressure.
The Berubari and Kutch agreements were a challenge to our national integrity. BJP faced this challenge.
Even today, it is only the BJP which is raising the issues of national integrity, fighting against separatism and keeping the society constantly alert for this purpose.
Atal ji’s government gave a direct message to those who dared to attack India by making the country a nuclear power.
Democracy: development and defense
In the first phase, when all the leaders of the freedom movement were in power, there was either no opposition or it was with the leftists who were devoid of patriotism, then Jana Sangh accepted the challenge and gave a strong opposition to the Indian democracy in the form of Bharatiya Jana Sangh. In 1967, Jana Sangh became the second largest party.
The only political party that raises the issue of electoral reforms is Jan Sangh or BJP. Our party emphasized on democratic norms and did not allow them to be violated.
The story of resistance to Emergency strengthens our democratic commitment.
The opposition that emerged under the leadership of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was capable of becoming an alternative. Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Shri Narendra Modi are the regulators of alternatives in Indian democracy. Today, only the BJP has the all-India organization and leadership required for Indian democracy.
thinking
Politics is not just a means of attaining power. It is also its duty to take the society on the path of progress in the desired direction. For this, a consistent approach is required, which is obtained from consistent ideology. Today all the political parties of India are victims of ideological vacuum. BJP is regulating the organization on the basis of consistent ideologies of cultural nationalism, integral humanism and Panchnishtha. These will also be properly reflected in the policy of governance.
good governance
The power of dedicated workers and good regulation of the government is the guarantee of good governance. The six years of BJP government at the Centre and in the states have given better governance than the governments of other parties. For the last three years, the process of positive good governance is going on at a rapid pace under the leadership of Shri Narendra Modi. It will still take some time to mitigate the old distortions of the system.
