BJP's Foundation Day: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is celebrating its 43rd foundation day today (April 6). To commemorate the occasion, the party has planned a week-long social harmony campaign from today till the birth anniversary of Baba Saheb Ambedkar on April 14. In addition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the topmost leader of the party, will also address BJP leaders and workers in New Delhi. According to sources, the party has also directed the BJP workers to host seminars and discussions on the history of the party and the achievements of the central government.
HISTORY OF THE PARTY
The rise of the saffron party has been no less than stellar as it has emerged as an 'election-winning machine" over the last few years. The party officially came into existence on April 6, 1980. It had emerged from the Jana Sangh, which was formed by Shyama Prasad Mukherjee in 1951. After the Emergency was imposed by the then Congress-led government, the Jana Sangha merged with some other parties to form the 'Janata Party' in 1977. Three years later, the Janata Party dissolved and its members formed the Bharatiya Janata Party with Atal Bihari Vajpayee as its first president.
HOW BJP ROSE TO PROMINENCE
43 years since its inception, the BJP has now carved a niche for itself as the world's largest political party that rules a nation of over 1.3 billion people. Over the years, the saffron party grew to dominate Indian politics and nearly expanded its footprint in every corner of the country. The Communist Party of China was considered the largest party in the world prior to 2015.
The BJP has made its mark as a political powerhouse as a result of its successful run in the country. The saffron party is currently the biggest political organisation in the globe, claiming to have over 180 million members. According to reports, this is almost twice the strength of China's Communist Party, the second-largest political party in the world. After expanding its presence across the country, the BJP also managed to cross the 100-seat mark in the Rajya Sabha in 2022, thus becoming the first party to do so since 1990.
BJP'S FOOTPRINTS ACROSS COUNTRY
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the party has made electoral history winning back-to-back Lok Sabha elections and several Assembly elections. The saffron party has continued to be a dominant force in Indian politics since registering a landslide victory in the 2014 General Elections. Since then, the party has also made its hold in several states by winning back-to-back elections. Of the 31 Assemblies in the country, currently, the Bharatiya Janata Party is in power in 17 of them, either directly or in coalitions with other parties.
HERE ARE THE BJP/COALITION-RULED ASSEMBLIES
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Assam
- Goa
- Gujarat
- Haryana
- Karnataka
- Madhya Pradesh
- Maharashtra
- Manipur
- Meghalaya
- Mizoram
- Nagaland
- Sikkim
- Tripura
- Uttar Pradesh
- Uttarakhand
- Puducherry
FROM 2 SEATS IN 1984 TO A POLITICAL POWERHOUSE
The BJP could manage to win only two seats in the first Lok Sabha polls it ever contested in 1984 as an independent party. But two BJP leaders' historic victories—Chandupatla Janga Reddy from Andhra Pradesh and AK Patel from Gujarat—gave the party the much-needed support it would need to challenge the then-dominant Congress in the years to come.
In the following General Elections, the BJP consistently gained seats (except in 2004 and 2009). It won 85 seats in 1989 and reached three figures in 1991, garnering 120 seats. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the party engineered historic victories in 2014 and 2019, winning a comfortable majority in the lower house on its own. The BJP independently crossed the 300-mark in the 2019 General Elections for the first time.
It should be mentioned here that the BJP has made it mandatory for the office bearers of the party and all the MPs and MLAs to participate in the Foundation Day programmes this year, organise at least three programs in one assembly constituency, and share the photographs on social media.
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