BJP Foundation Day: BJP is the biggest party…how was Atal Bihari’s dream fulfilled?

There was no way left for the people associated with Jan Sangh. It was his compulsion to rehabilitate the old house. Even after the fall of the Janata Party government led by Morarji Desai, the controversy over dual membership in the party did not stop. Janata Party fought the 1980 Lok Sabha elections with the face of Babu Jagjivan Ram in front. The party won only 32 seats, of which 19 belonged to Jan Sangh. Instead of taking the responsibility of the defeat on himself, Jagjivan Ram put it on the Jana Sangh. Emphasized that the people of Jan Sangh will have to choose between Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or Janata Party.

Efforts for reconciliation between former Prime Minister Morarji and party president Chandrashekhar failed. On the question of dual membership, in the decisive meeting of the National Executive of the party on 4 April 1980, the resolution was passed by 17 votes against 14, in which dual membership was invalidated.

Every failure of Janata Party is on the responsibility of Jan Sangh.

In 1977, the Jan Sangh component of the Janata Party had the maximum number of 93 Lok Sabha members. Nevertheless, he was continuously attacked from within the party in the name of affiliation with the Sangh. There were many reasons for the breakup of the party and the fall of the Morarji government, but the blame for it also fell on the Jan Sangh component. After the victory of 1977, the Jan Sangh component had initially advocated the name of Jagjivan Ram for the Dalit Prime Minister. However, at the last moment, Jan Sangh had to step back due to Chaudhary Charan Singh going in favor of Morarji and Jaiprakash Narayan agreeing to his name.

In the 1980 Lok Sabha elections, the people of Jan Sangh within the Janata Party once again put forward the name of Jagjivan Ram. He was presented as the face of the party for the post of Prime Minister in the elections. But this attempt failed miserably.

The cadre was no longer ready to tolerate it.

Instead of getting to the bottom of the defeat and accepting the weakness of the organization and his own face, Jagjivan Ram wrote a letter to party president Chandrashekhar on 25 February 1980 and put the responsibility of the defeat on Jan Sangh. After being targeted once again after the defeat of 1980, first during the Morarji government and then under the leadership of Jagjivan Ram, the patience of the leaders and workers of Jan Sangh had ended.

During the election campaign itself, Jan Sangh leaders had apprehensions that the results would go against them. The feedback that leaders like Atal, Advani, Sunder Singh Bhandari etc. were getting from the old cadre clearly indicated that Jan Sangh will have to be brought into existence once again. Jagjivan Ram’s letter and the decision of the Janata Party National Executive to reject dual membership soon gave the people of Jan Sangh an opportunity to follow a different path.

The path of Gandhian-socialism in the hope of expanding the base

In the foundation conference of the new party at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground in Delhi on 5 and 6 April, along with the old members of the Jan Sangh, faces like Shanti Bhushan, Ram Jethmalani and Sikandar Bakht, who were till now associated with other constituents, were also present. He had become close to Atal-Advani while in Janata Party. In reality, at the time of formation of the new party, there were not only bitter memories related to Atal-Advani’s Janata Party. JP’s association with the Sampoorna Kranti movement had given Jan Sangh an opportunity to expand its base and connect with other parties.

Till now Jan Sangh was a cadre based party. It was decided to make the new party mass based. A picture of Jaiprakash Narayan was also put on the stage along with Deendayal Upadhyay. The establishment of Gandhian socialism with integral humanism was included in the goals of the party. Jan Sangh and its election symbol Deepak were also not adopted. The new party was named Bharatiya Janata Party. The election symbol was decided as lotus.

In his presidential speech, Atal Bihari Vajpayee said that there was no flaw in the policies and programs of the Janata Party. In fact people voted against the behavior of politicians. We will take advantage of our experiences of Janata Party. We are proud of our relationship with him. We would not like to be separated from our past in any way. As we build our new party, we look to the future, not back. We will move forward on the basis of our core ideology and principles.

return to roots

The initial years were disappointing for the Bharatiya Janata Party. Especially the 1984 Lok Sabha elections in which the party got only two seats. But this was an election under unusual circumstances, which took place after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The wave of sympathy arising from his brutal murder not only uprooted the tents of the newly formed BJP but also the rest of the opposition. BJP soon recovered from the election defeat. Leaving aside the theory of Gandhian socialism, she was now back to her roots. BJP stood firmly against the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s capitulation to fundamentalist forces in the Shahbano case.

Surrounded by allegations of Muslim appeasement, Rajiv Gandhi got the lock of Ramjanbhoomi temple in Ayodhya opened in damage control. In later days, Congress had lagged behind on this question. Sangh, VHP, Bajrang Dal and BJP embraced it with full vigor and took it forward. Advani’s face had been established parallel to Atal in the party.

Big jump in 1989 elections

In 1984, Rajiv Gandhi left behind his maternal grandfather Pandit Nehru and mother Indira Gandhi by securing 414 seats. But soon they were on the slope. The soot of commission fraud in the purchase of Bofors guns tarnished his image. Even after the defeat in the Lok Sabha and state assembly elections, the BJP’s morale was not defeated. Its efforts to strengthen the organization and expand its base continued.

The 1989 Lok Sabha elections gave him a golden opportunity. The party took a huge leap compared to the two seats won in the last elections. This time it had got 85 seats. Not only this. The next government of Janata Dal led by Vishwanath Pratap Singh was dependent on his support. This was the era of Mandal-Kamandal. By implementing the recommendations of the Mandal Commission, Vishwanath Pratap was trying to sideline the rivals of the Janata Dal and win over the backward classes. On the other hand, Lal Krishna Advani’s Ram Rath Yatra was on the way from Somnath to Ayodhya. Lalu stopped his chariot in Samastipur and arrested him. The next step of BJP was to withdraw support.

steps forward

In 1991, BJP became the main opposition party by getting 120 seats in the Lok Sabha. Its governments were formed in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. After the demolition of Babri on 6 December 1992, the Narasimha Rao government at the Center dissolved the governments of these four states. But BJP’s progress continued.

In 1996, the party got 161 seats in the Lok Sabha. Atal Bihari Vajpayee took oath as Prime Minister. Of course, the life of this government was only 13 days. But the next two opportunities were waiting for him. In 1998, BJP got 182 seats. Atal Bihari became the Prime Minister once again. This government fell by a margin of just one vote during the no-confidence motion in 1999.

Like last time in the 1999 elections, BJP remained at 182. Atal Bihari took oath as Prime Minister for the third time. But this coalition government remained durable. He remained in power till 2004.

Again Modi-Modi

The Atal government’s decision to hold premature Lok Sabha elections in 2004 proved costly for the BJP. The party was also out of power and dropped to 138 in the Lok Sabha. There was a slight further decline in 2009. Its strength in the Lok Sabha remained 116. Ailing Atal Bihari had retired after 2004. Advani’s aura had also faded. But Narendra Modi’s strong performance as the Chief Minister of Gujarat was opening new doors of possibilities for the party.

As soon as Modi entered central politics, the party’s progress gained new wings. In 2014, there was echo of Modi-Modi everywhere. By securing 282 seats in this election, the party formed a government with a clear majority. There was a gap of 34 years in between. Atal Bihari had been proved right. After the establishment of BJP, the first convention was held on 28-30 December 1980 near Bandra in Mumbai. The Arabian Sea was flaunting in front. Here, the enthusiasm of fifty thousand leaders and workers was at its peak, raising waves of enthusiasm.

On the mic, Atal ji, the most popular face of the party, was saying in his unique style, “From the beach, I can say with confidence about the future, “The darkness will go away, the sun will rise and the lotus will bloom.”

Modi-Shah’s BJP always in election mode

Lotus has been blooming continuously in the country’s politics since 2014. In 2019, the party reached 303 in the Lok Sabha. In 2024, this number stopped at 240 but with the help of allies, the party remains firmly in power at the Center for the third time under the leadership of Narendra Modi. BJP is in power in about twenty states either alone or with NDA allies. In states like West Bengal, the party is claiming power by becoming the main opposition. Its continuous efforts to expand in the south are continuing.

Under the leadership of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, BJP has emerged as a party which is constantly in election mode. Counting of votes continues in one state and the party’s election campaign begins in another state. BJP has become the largest political party in the world in terms of number of members. The party, which was once considered urban, has penetrated into the remote areas of the country. The mass-based party that Atal ji had dreamed of at the time of the establishment of BJP, Narendra Modi has completed it with the help of dedicated cadre by going back to the roots with the aim of Sabka Saath – Sabka Vikas – Sabka Vishwas – Sabka Prayas.

Also read: Who stopped Jagjivan Ram from becoming the first Dalit Prime Minister of the country?