The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), translated into English as the “Indian People’s Party”, is one of the prominent parties in India today. It is a major political party with a right-wing political position. It strongly adheres to cultural nationalism through social conservatism and integral humanism. It is the most significant member of the family of active organizations known as the ‘Sangh Parivar’. The BJP was officially formed in 1980, under the political guidance and leadership of two of its most significant leaders, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L.K. Advani. Both of them were members of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), the political wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), nationalist cultural organization of independent India. The BJS was founded by Dr. Shyama Prasad Mookherjee in 1951, to combat the increasing political power of the Indian National Congress (INC), which was said to have initiated a number of compromises in the questions of political and cultural integrity and unity of India, such as appeasement policy for Muslims. The BJS, under the umbrella of RSS, began to grow in strength. But soon after, with Mookherjee’s death, the organization started to decline in political importance.
It was in this period that leaders like Vajpayee and Advani were groomed, who were able to take charge of the future political affairs of India. In the 1977 elections, after the Emergency was called off, the BJS merged with three other active political organizations with a socialist and regionalist approach. This coalition came to be called the Janata Party. It registered a landslide victory in the 1977 elections, and formed the government under Morarji Desai’s leadership. However, with increasing internal factionalism and political chaos, the Janata Party collapsed in 1979. The Bharatiya Janata Party was formally announced in 1980, comprising members of the nucleus of Janata Party. Vajpayee was the first President of the BJP.
The BJP came to power at the Centre, by forming a coalition of parties called the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) from 1998 to 2004. The present President of the BJP is Amit Shah. The BJP is the largest political party in the Parliament. The party won 282 seats in the 2014 General Elections and the NDA got a total of 336 seats. Since 1984, it was for the first time that any party got a clear majority in the Parliament. On 26 May 2014, Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of India. Modi is the leader of the BJP in the Lok Sabha, whereas Arun Jaitley is the leader of the party in the Rajya Sabha.
Election Symbol and its Significance
The Election Symbol of the BJP from its inception, as approved by the Election Commission of India, is the “Lotus”. The Lotus is the national flower of India. The BJP election symbol therefore has many prominent representations. Firstly, the symbol is used to indicate a national identity that the BJP strongly upholds. The BJP’s political ideology is described as cultural nationalism. In other words, the BJP is adherent to cultural values of India. For example, the BJP promotes the ban on cow-slaughter as it is considered a holy animal. Again, the party seeks to uphold the cultural unity of India, by strongly criticizing the European notion of ‘secularism’.
The BJP claims that the INC is a political party with a pseudo-secular ideology. It also believes that by strongly propagating a cultural nationalist approach, it is not in anyway, propagating Hindu nationalism. On the contrary, the BJP asserts that it is dedicated to the building up of a harmonious, united and integrated India, which will uphold its traditions and heritage. The objectives of the Party are outlined thus: “The party is pledged to build up India as a strong and prosperous nation, which is modern, progressive and enlightened in outlook and which proudly draws inspiration from India’s ancient culture and values and thus is able to emerge as a great world power, playing an effective role in the community of nations for the establishment of world peace and a just international order.
The party aims at establishing a democratic state which guarantees to all citizens “irrespective of caste, creed or sex, political, social and economic justice, equality of opportunity and liberty of faith and expression.” In other words, the election symbol of the BJP symbolizes a pan-Indian outlook, representing and respecting all sections of a united “Bharat” or India. Secondly, the lotus is a symbol of Goddess Saraswati, the Goddess of learning and education. The BJP promotes cultural education. For example, it recommends the teaching of the Bhagavad Gita in educational institutions.