How BJP has changed over the years

These days, I see so many BJP supporters on Social Media. Many of them doesn’t know the struggles of the party and its values. I think that I am a veteran supporter of BJP among the young BJP supporters. So I thought to write about the journey of BJP which I have seen on the occasion of historic UP Victory.

I have been a BJP supported since 1990. My imagination was caught by Ram Mandir issue line millions of people at that time. As a 5-6 year old child, I used to think that it was our (Hindus) right to build a temple. I was very happy on 6^th Dec 1992 when Babri Masjid was demolished. But as I have grown up, I consider 6^th December 1992 was the worst day in history of Republic of India and I feel ashamed that I has supported it then. Initially BJP had just 85 seats in 1989 election. They went to 120 seats with over 20% votes in 91 election and they formed Govt. in 4 states – UP, MP, HP & Rajasthan. All 4 ministries were dismissed after Babri Masjid demolition and BJP lost UP & MP.

At that time, it was called party with difference. Their never went into well of Parliament or state assemblies. Under the leadership of Lal Krishna Advani & Atal jee, BJP was free of major corruption charges. Advani’s rath Yatra was very successful for BJP although it disturbed communal harmony at many places. And Advani’s rath was stopped in my home district in Samastipur by a Lalu Yadav. When the name of Lal Krishna Advani surfaced in Hawala diaries, he vowed not to go to parliament till his name was cleared. In 1994, at the peak of militancy in Kashmir, then BJP chief Murli Manohar Joshi went to Sri Nagar to host Indian Flag (incidentally Modi was chief organizer of that yatra). BJP was a rising party then. It won in Gujrat & Maharashtra (with Shiv Sena) in 1995. We could sense that BJP will one day form government in Centre. And the day came in 1996 when Vajpayee jee was sworn as PM (just for 13 days). His oratory skills was excellent and despite being a PM for 6 years, no one can question his honesty & integrity even today. BJP continued its rise throughout India in 1998 & 1991 elections and touched 183 seats in Lok Sabha.

In the mean while Vajpayee Govt. was formed again in 1998 & 1999. BJP did nuclear tests and it still remain one of the proudest events for me. India also defeated Pakistan in Kargil conflict. Suddenly in late 90s and early 2000s, we got a feeling that India is no longer a back bencher in world arena. But India is rising in the area of economy, defense, soft power etc. Then Gujrat riots happened ultimately it proved to be a major reason for BJP’s loss in 2004 general elections. BJP mis-read the mood of public & selected wrong allies all over India and it was routed in UP and Bihar and lost power at Centre. Next 10 years were very tough for BJP. It lost in UP, Delhi, Maharashtra but continued to hang on in MP, Chhattisgarh & Gujrat. In meanwhile, it came into power alternatively in Rajasthan, HP and Uttarakhand. It won Bihar in 2005 from Lalu with the help of Nitish Kumar. It also won a historic election in Karnataka in 2007 (1^st state in South India) but lost the state in 2013. Under the leadership of Advani in 2009 General election, BJP just won 116 seats. It seemed that the era of BJP may be over. But it still had a strong regional leaders and then came Mr. Modi at the Centre stage in 2013. After that rest is history.

This BJP is totally different from the BJP I knew. This is ruthless, result oriented, centrally controlled party. It dumps allies & destroy them without second thoughts, gives tickets to outsiders without any hesitation. Its focus is only on winning elections. It lacks the humor & open heart of Vajpayee jee. This party has won a historic mandate in 2014 and now in UP in 2017. And BJP has provided Modi a platform in becoming the biggest mass leader in India after Indira Gandhi.