PM Modi’s BJP breaks many poll precedents, achieves many firsts
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been witnessing many electoral firsts in the party’s history since its inception in 1980, and has been breaking many political and electoral precedents set in the country, over the last seven years. Many within and outside the BJP pin this achievement of the party to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his “charisma” to stitch voters together in the country.
Ever since Narendra Modi was declared the Prime Ministerial candidate in September 2013, for the April-may Lok Sabha elections in 2014, the BJP has broken many electoral records and have stepped in places where the saffron party would not have dared to enter just 10 years back.
The BJP in 2014 Lok Sabha elections became the first non-congress party to get a complete majority on its own, securing 282 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats in the country. Since then, there has been no stopping for the BJP to break one glass ceiling after the other. It was also for the first time that a non-congress government came back to power in the Centre with an even bigger majority.
It was once again for the first time that the BJP secured a second term of office at the Centre in 2019 with more than 300 seats in the Lok Sabha and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the first non-congress Prime Minister to repeat the highest office in India. This made BJP the only non-congress party to get a repeat government at the Centre in India.
Even in the recently concluded state Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur, the BJP has been able to break off several precedents set in the electoral space of the country earlier. The BJP became the first party to come back to power for a second term in the largest and most populated state of India, Uttar Pradesh, with a complete majority. This happened after 37 years, that a party is able to repeat itself in Uttar Pradesh. It is also for the first time that a BJP chief minister completed a full term of five years in office and got re-elected from the state for a second term.
The earlier electoral precedent set from the hill state of Uttarakhand where the electors mandatorily changed the government after every five years was also breached this time by the BJP. It is once again for the first time since the inception of Uttarakhand in 2000 that any party (in this case the BJP) has been able to repeat its government from here. The BJP secured a complete majority of 47 seats in the 70-member Assembly of Uttarakhand for a straight second term and will form the government in the state soon.
It is also for the first time that the BJP has been able to win the coastal state of Goa for a straight third term, despite its tallest leader from the state Manohar Parrikar missing and the sitting Chief Minister Pramod Sawant facing anti-incumbency.
The BJP since 2014 has also successfully made deep inroads into the Northeast region which was once touted as the stronghold of the Congress party. It is only after Narendra Modi taking over as the Prime Minister of India and his increased focus on the North Eastern region that the BJP has been able to gain the trust of the people of North East, says a senior BJP leader who has worked in the Northeast region.
The BJP won for the second time in Manipur according to the results of the recently concluded Assembly election result from the North eastern state. The BJP once struggled in these states, but now the BJP has its own government in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Tripura, Manipur, while the party is in an alliance with the ruling regional party in Meghalaya, Sikkim, Mizoram and Nagaland.
Political observers say that for BJP to break into the tribal foothold of the Northeast region since 2014 has been a remarkable achievement for the party as the party has been able to break the barrier of religion, caste and tribe in the region. In Manipur for example, the BJP has been able to successfully form government for the second term despite the state having 60% Christian population.
Among some other firsts for the BJP under Narendra Modi, the party has been able to make deep inroads into states like Bengal and Odisha. It was for the first time that the BJP was able to get over 14% vote share in the state in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in Bengal, despite the organisational structure of the party remaining virtually absent from the state. From 14% in 2014, the BJP has been able to increase its vote share to 40% in the 2021 Assembly elections in Bengal and position itself as the principal opposition party of the state, leaving way behind the CPM, which earlier occupied this space in Bengal, since 2011.
Even in Bihar, many political experts believe that the Nitish Kumar government was saved from falling off in the 2020 Bihar elections due to its alliance with the BJP. They say that the people of Bihar reposed their faith in Modi once again for the fourth term. This has also been one of the firsts where the BJP has been ruling Bihar for the fourth term.
Under the “Modi leadership” of the BJP, the BJP also stepped into the southern region for the first time. Although the party could not gain much in this region of the country, it has increased its vote share in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Several BJP leaders as well as political observers in India have credited the rise and growth of the BJP in the country over the last seven years to the “charismatic” leadership and personality of Narendra Modi.
Veteran BJP leaders say, “What Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Vajpayee could not do, Modi has done. They dreamt of the BJP occupying the major political force in India, but could not achieve. But under Modi’s leadership the party has achieved the unthinkable.
The victory in Uttar Pradesh and the other four states have strengthened and emboldened the party more. It seems that Modi is invincible now and that the voters in India have immense faith and trust in the brand Modi and his message.”