MISSION DEMOLITION

THE INSIDE STORY OF THE BJP'S STRATEGY TO DEFANG THE OPPOSITION IN THE RUN-UP TO THE 2024 LOK SABHA ELECTION

- RAJ CHENGAPPA and ANILESH S. MAHAJAN

Those who work closely with Narendra Modi know nothing the prime minister says or does is random. The dot that every act of Modi marks is connected to a larger picture that at times is not evident either to colleagues or opponents. In the past nine years that Modi has ruled the country, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has imbibed in large measure the management style of its iconic leader. Combining that unique quality with a relentless (many term it ruthless) quest for power, the BJP-under the leadership of Modi and his deputy Amit Shah-has transformed itself into a political juggernaut. It is now arguably the world's largest democratic party, one that operates with corporate efficiency, never resting on its laurels, and always learning from its setbacks.

With less than a year to go for the 2024 general election, the BJP has unfurled its grand gameplan to win a phenomenal third consecutive term at the Centre with a majority of its own, another iteration of the full spectrum dominance it achieved in 2014 and 2019. That mission took on an urgency of its own after 15 opposition parties gathered in Bihar's capital Patna on June 23 to see how they could combine their strengths to defeat the BJP.