Modi govt 8 years: How BJP has become the 'greatest election machine' under Narendra Modi and Amit Shah

Highlights

PM Modi has played a pivotal role in BJP's emergence in the last one decade
BJP's 2014 win ended an era of coalition politics in the country
BJP's membership base & regular engagement with the public show its growing popularity

Modi govt 8 Years: The very first and most important element that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has by its side is the persona of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the confidence of the 135 crore people he enjoys. His image as a ‘vikaspurush’ and his pitch that the BJP in the last 8 years has been able to connect with both the rich and the poor has helped to expand its footprints across the length and breadth of the country. Besides, his image of being a staunch Hindu leader resulted in the consolidation of the voters, ending an era of politics when political parties were competing to prove themselves being the messiah of the minorities and the backwards to garner votes.

Essentially, all these qualities of PM Modi have played a pivotal role in the saffron party's emergence in the last one decade and the party's successive election victories that started in 2014 with the Congress biting the dust. The BJP won 303 seats in 2019, 21 seats more than what it had bagged in the 2014 general elections when the people overwhelmingly voted in favour of Modi to help his party secure a clear majority in the 543-member Lok Sabha, the first such by any political party in the last 30 years. That 2014 win also ended the coalition politics and bolstered the BJP to take forward its historically reflected nationalist positions.

Another source of the BJP's strength is Amit Shah’s prolific organisational skills and strategies that he displayed after he was elevated to the party's president post soon after the 2014 win. Even after he was appointed as the Home Minister by PM Narendra Modi after the 2019 polls, his organisational skills have made the BJP's organisational structure grow stronger.

The expansion of the party’s membership base, regular engagement with workers and campaigning have allowed the party to gauge the mood of the voters at regular intervals. The recent election results of five states once again displayed the party’s growing popularity and a better understanding of the electorate.

BJP rules 44% of India's land

The Bharatiya Janata Party's stunning election victories in the last 8 years have clearly baffled the opposition. Going by the data, the BJP currently has governments in 17 states and 1 Union Territory, covering 44% of the territory and more than 49.5 per cent population. The 17 states are Karnataka, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, UP, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. The lone UT is Puducherry.

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Image Source : INDIA TV

BJP-led NDA governs 17 states, 1 UT

At its peak in 2018, the BJP directly or through its alliance partners governed 21 states, covering 70 per cent of the population and 76 per cent of the territory.

This highlights how the BJP -- from its senior leaders to grassroots workers have been able to connect with the voters.

Organisational strength

BJP's organisational strength and the leadership’s ability to take tough decisions are key factors behind its growing acceptance pan-India. With Congress failing to counter PM Modi’s popularity and not accepting the fact that Rahul Gandhi has failed to pose a challenge to him, the saffron party's stay in power for the next 10 years appears to be imminent.

Be it the national election, Assembly polls or local bodies polls, the BJP takes every such democratic exercise seriously, a clear reflection of how deep is the bond between the leadership and the cadre.

The image of Modi being a powerful leader on all fronts has made it easy for the BJP to attract voters from backward caste and minorities, thus busting the opposition’s propaganda that the BJP is largely upper caste party and its presence is limited to urban areas. This could be visible from the coalition that the party has constructed with the regional and smaller parties and the party forming governments in all the seven North East states.

The BJP on the electoral battlefield under Modi-Shah jugalbandi has projected itself as the vanguard of the poor, rich and deprived section. The party’s ability to hold together its multi-caste alliance has delivered the results, ruining the Congress’ politics that even today eyes at making gains by creating a split among the voters. The successive wins that the BJP has registered are attestation that it is a highly adaptable party than others.