No stone unturned

The BJP's robust organisational structure, effective messaging and Modi's appeal have made it confident of a hat-trick this year

- PRATUL SHARMA

In India’s political history, 1984 was epochal. It was the year Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated. It was also the year the four-year-old BJP found itself in an existential crisis—it could win only two seats in the Lok Sabha polls held after Indira’s death. For years, the party had to endure taunts of getting seats equivalent to the family planning norms of the day. Forty years later, though, the tide is set to turn, as Narendra Modi prepares to become the first non-Congress prime minister to win a third term.

Unlike the 2019 elections, when the government had to pitch in with an election-oriented interim budget, the euphoria around the consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya has the BJP in a comfortable position. The sentiment has huge potential to turn into votes; also, Ram Navami in April could act as another call to the faithful.

With the Modi government’s development pitch and its massive outreach to more than 80 crore beneficiaries of Central government schemes, the BJP has a big lead in getting its messaging to key target groups—women, youth, poor and farmers. Also helping the party is the fact that the opposition is yet to set an emphatic narrative, and is even showing signs of unravelling.