At 46, the BJP has traced a long arc

(The article was originally published in Indian Express on April 04, 2026 as a part of Dr Madhav’s column titled ‘Ram Rajya’. Views expressed are personal.)

Forty-six years ago, the weekend of 5-6 April 1980, saw the rise of a new political force on the horizon of Indian politics. At a shamiana complex named as Samata Nagar in Bandra area of Mumbai, the Bharatiya Janata Party was born with Atal Behari Vajpayee as the first national president. The political ambition of the new party was well summed up by Vajpayee in the closing statement of his presidential address: “Andhera Chatega, Suraj Nikalega, aur Kamal Khilega” – “darkness will fade away, sun will rise and lotus shall bloom”. Three years earlier, in early 1977, several parties, including Bharatiya Jan Sangh, Bharatiya Lok Dal, Congress (O) and various factions of the Socialist Party, came together to form Janata Party as a bulwark against the draconian rule of the Congress Party. Janata Party emerged victorious in the elections to the parliament in May 1977 and formed the government. But, plagued by disunity and uncontrollable power ambitions of the leaders of various factions, the Party collapsed three years later. Major chunk of the leadership of Janata Party came from erstwhile Jan Sangh, which was forced to part ways due to the bogey of “dual membership” raised by the Socialist clique including leaders like Madhu Limaye and Raj Narain, demanding that the Jan Sangh leaders rescind their relationship with the RSS.

Walking out of the Janata Party was an unpleasant experience for many leaders of the erstwhile Jan Sangh. It had its shadow on the new party – BJP – that they formed too. Probably wanting to tell their Socialist critics in the Janata Party that they were no less Socialist than them, the leadership of the new party declared “Gandhian Socialism” as its guiding principle. No clear enunciation of the ideology happened, although, Vajpayee affirmed that “Gandhian socialism is what we want to achieve and make society free of exploitation and full of opportunities”. Constitution of the new party too proclaimed in Article IV that it “shall be committed to … ‘Gandhian approach to socio‑economic issues leading to the establishment of an egalitarian society free from exploitation’…”.

While the initial enthusiasm of the cadre was incredible, the ideological positioning turned out to be an albatross around its neck. Words like socialism, egalitarian, exploitation-free society etc sounded too Marxist to the cadres which were largely trained in the RSS vocabulary of nation, culture and unity. Disastrous electoral performance followed reducing the party to just 2 seats in the parliament elections in 1984 and forcing the leadership to worry about its ideological trajectory. L K Advani, who became the president in 1986, understood this challenge and sought to steer the party in a more ideologically definitive direction. Decades later, in his memoir “My Country My Life”, Advani admitted that although the BJP adopted Gandhian Socialism to distinguish itself from others, “the concept did not strike a chord”. “It led to confusion about our ideological identity”, he confessed.

“Gandhian Socialism” was replaced by principles like “cultural nationalism” and “integral humanism” in later years. That ideological clarity catapulted the party from a minor bystander in 1984 to principal opposition in 1991 and the ruling party in 1996. The BJP grew on the four pillars of ideology, leadership, organisation and Sangh Parivar. Last decade saw the party reach the pinnacle of its glory on all these pillars.

Under prime minister Modi’s leadership, the Party toed a clear ideological line of cultural nationalism. Modi wore culture proudly on his sleeves and took a non-apologetic approach towards cultural symbolism. It attracted some criticism from the opposition parties, but the wider masses of the country seem to identify with that symbolism solidly. The political reality of India is that the Indian mind resonates well with its culture and religion. This is not mixing of religion and politics. It is about upholding a moral compass and serving truth. “To pursue politics without religion is a sin”, Gandhi used to exhort, adding that “a man who engages in politics must have religion at the root of his life; otherwise, his political actions are immoral”.

This clear ideological position helped BJP in achieving several benchmark successes in the last decade, like the abrogation of Article 370, building of Ram Temple in Ayodhya as a national monument and a relentless campaign against terrorism. Under Modi’s leadership, Home Minister Amit Shah achieved something unthinkable – complete decimation of Naxalism in the country. Such clarity and consistency in ideology-driven politics helped BJP forge a strong bond with the Sangh Parivar, which, in its centenary year, stands as a solid pillar of support for the cultural nationalist agenda.

The BJP’s strength also lies in its grassroots organisational presence, which got further expanded up to the polling station level in the last decade. Credit goes to Modi for not letting political power downgrade the importance of the party organisation. At the recent election of the new party president, Modi sent a clear message to the cadre about the importance of the organisation by saying that “I am a party karyakarta, and Nitin Nabin is my boss”. History of other parties teaches an important lesson that neglecting organisation is suicidal. Congress Party decided to ignore the organisation in favour of a family several decades ago. The family fiefdom, built by Indira Gandhi, was further fortified by Sonia Gandhi. The party sacrificed several important leaders just to uphold the primacy of a family. The result is that in spite of some political advantage, it is unsure of rising as a force in the country again. The Communist Parties once prided over their organisational prowess. But they too became power-centred parties in the last few decades neglecting organisation. Power slipped out of their hands in Bengal in 2011, and in Tripura in 2018. If the last surviving bastion of Kerala collapses in this election, the party will become history in Indian politics.

At 46, the BJP is today ideologically rooted, organisationally solid and endowed with a leadership that is an envy to others. The lotus has bloomed fully. The party can genuinely be proud of its journey.