How BJP became the country’s largest party in 4 decades, understand in 8 points

The BJP’s journey began in 1951 when Dr. Shyamaprasad Mukherjee founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh.

On October 21, 1951, the party claimed the largest party in the country Bharatiya Janata Party The foundation stone is laid. It became the first non-Congress party to record from the Center for the past 8 years, but it did not have an easy start. The BJP, which won over 300 seats, also witnessed a phase when the party managed to win only 2 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. This journey of BJP began in 1951 when Dr. Shyamaprasad Mukherjee founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in Delhi. Its electoral symbol was a burning lamp.

Learn in 8 points how the BJP was born out of the Jana Sangh, a party that won two seats and became the largest party in the country…

1- The Janata Party was formed from the Jana Sangh

In the Lok Sabha elections held in 1957, the Jan Sangh Party got 4, 14 in 1962, 35 in 1967. In 1977 many political parties merged into Jana Sangh and thus it was given a new name – Janata Party. After the Emergency in 1977, when the Lok Sabha elections were held, the party won 295 seats and formed the government at the Center under the leadership of Morarji Desai. Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the External Affairs Minister and LK Advani the Information and Broadcasting Minister in that government.

2- Birth of BJP after internal strife

After the formation of the Janata Party government at the centre, the party broke up due to internal strife. Following this disagreement, when the Lok Sabha elections were held in 1980, plans were made to form a new party after the party’s crushing defeat. Thus, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was formed on 6 April 1980 under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Atal Bihari Vajpayee became its first President.

3- BJP starts with 2 seats

After the formation of the BJP, when the Lok Sabha elections were held in 1984, the party won only 2 seats. Then the Ram temple movement started. Such was the impact of the movement that the BJP became the kingmaker, winning over 80 seats in the 1989 elections. In the 1996 elections, the party set a record and emerged as the single largest party winning 161 seats and formed the government at the Center but could not survive for long without a majority.

4- Became the first non-Congress party to complete the term

The party came to power again in 1999 and ended its tenure in power till 2004. The BJP thus completed its tenure as the first non-Congress party. Although it was a coalition government.

5- When the 2004 election collapsed

In 2004, elections were held under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the BJP raised the slogan Shining India, but did not gain public support. As a result BJP had to face a miserable defeat. The 2009 elections were fought under the leadership of senior BJP leader Lal K Advani but this time too was unsuccessful. BJP was the opposition party from 2004 to 2014.

He came to power with a huge majority

Narendra Modi, who was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, was made the party’s chief face in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The election was held under his leadership. There was massive popular support and the party returned to power with a huge majority of 282 seats. Thus, Narendra Modi became a part of politics at the center from the state and was sworn in as the prime minister. This is the first time that the BJP itself formed the government.

7- Broke own record in 2019

The 2019 Lok Sabha elections broke its own record. In 2014, it got 282 seats. In 2019, the number of seats won increased to 303. Narendra Modi is the Prime Minister for the second time. This victory for the BJP was historic in many ways. won 303 seats for the first time. Second, the party has recorded the highest spending in elections. According to media reports, 60 thousand crore rupees were spent in this entire election, of which up to 45 percent was spent by the BJP.

8- The party has had 11 presidents in its journey of 42 years

Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the first president of BJP formed in 1980. In the journey of last 42 years, the party has got 11 presidents so far. The current president of BJP is JP Nadda.

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