Rising graph of BJP’s organizational expansion

 

A Mahavijayi convention of Bharatiya Janata Party was held recently in Shri Sai Baba’s Shirdi, a sacred town in Ahilyanagar district. BJP contested 148 seats in the assembly elections and won 132 seats whereas BJP-NCP-Shiv Sena Mahayuti achieved historical success by winning 232 seats out of 288. In the backdrop of this monumental victory the convention in Shirdi was called Mahavijayi convention. On this occasion, it will be quite appropriate to retrospect the 73-year journey which started with Jan Sangh from 1951 to 1980 and later as Bhartiya Janata Party from 1980 to 2024.  Despite an immense struggle, the existence of the Jan Sangh in Maharashtra during the period of 1951 to 1977 was not remarkable.

Due to the social environment at that time and because the system of media, intellectuals- educated class following the Congress, Communist, socialist ideology stamped Jan Sangh with Hidutva, it was taken care that the Jan Sangh will remain untouchable in the established political system. In spite of Jan Sangh being branded as the party of Shetjis and Bhatjis, it still established its existence by fighting Congress, Communist and Socialist ideologies. In the 1972 elections, Jan Sangh contested 127 seats and won only 5. Behind today’s monumental victory is an immense struggle of workers of Jan Sangh and the BJP leadership has always kept this in mind. Many people like Suryabhan Vahadane, Annasaheb Kadam patil, Rajabhau Zarkar contested Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections without fear of defeat to keep the existence of the party from the same Ahilyanagar district where the Mahavijayi convention was held.

Bharatiya Janata Party in its post 1980’s journey struggled fiercely for its survival. The party leadership never committed a sin of compromising its ideology throughout this struggle.  In 1980, while contesting the assembly election on the ‘Lotus’ symbol for the first time the Bharatiya Janata Party won 14 seats. In 1985, this number increased to 16. The 5 years from 1985 to 1990 were the years of transition as far as Maharashtra politics is concerned. Sharad Pawar had occupied the space of anti-Congress politics since 1980. But after realizing that it is not possible to gain power on its own, Pawar saheb shut shop of Indian Congress (Socialist) and chose to go back to Congress.

Around this time, Hindutva came to the fore because of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.  Shiv Sena chief respected Balasaheb Thackeray became the flag bearer of Hindutva. BJP and Shiv Sena formed an alliance based on this ideology. The prediction of political analysts that opposition parties in Maharashtra will be finished because of Sharad Pawar rejoining Congress was proven false by the BJP-Shiv Sena Yuti. BJP won 42 seats in the 1990 elections. In 1995, BJP-Shiv Sena Yuti came to power in the state by winning 135 seats. The number of seats that BJP won in this election went up to 65. The 10-year journey of BJP from 1985 to 1995 was noteworthy in many ways. For many years the party was labeled as Shetji-Bhatji party, but Bharatiya Janata Party successfully removed this label by forming various caste equations.

This social alignment was especially crucial in the growth of the party. Gopinath Munde, Anna Dange, N.S. Pharande, Pandurang Fundkar, Arun Adsad worked tirelessly under the guidance of many seniors like Uttamrao Patil and Laxmanrao Mankar to expand the BJP’s base by organizing various movements. Cotton producer’s agitation and farmer’s agitation for debt relief were crucial in taking BJP’s identity deep into the grassroots level.  The party leadership was working continuously for the organizational expansion of the BJP in the rural areas keeping in mind the importance of strong caste tribe calculations. Today we are experiencing this monumental victory as a result of these efforts.

After 2014 the established political equations in Maharashtra along with the country have come crashing down due to Narendra Modi’s leadership. BJP has won more than 100 seats for the third time in a row since 2014. Sharad Pawar, who is hailed by journalists as an astute, diplomat could not once achieve the 100 mark as Congress (Socialist) or as Nationalist Congress Party. Congress has never managed to win 100 seats since 1990. We should look at BJP’s performance in this context.

This monumental victory is not achieved overnight. What we are actually experiencing today is the result of years of hard work and perseverance to build the organization. After the loss of credibility of Congress and Sharad Pawar, who could not solve the basic problems of state despite being in power for many years, the acceptability of BJP has increased only because of comprehensive development through the central and state government. BJP has been able to achieve this success of winning more than 100 seats third time in a row only because of the support of solid organizational strength to the government’s performance.

 

(Article Pre-Published in Times of India Online – 20 January, 2025) 

Keshav Upadhye, Chief Spokesperson