Bharatiya Janata Party
Encyclopedia
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),; translation
: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major
political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress
. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament
. The Bharatiya Janata Party traditionally has supported Indian Nationalism
and strongly advocates conservative
social policies, self-reliance, free market
capitalistic
policy, foreign policy driven by a nationalist agenda, and strong national defense. The party's platform
is generally considered right of center
in the Indian political spectrum.
The BJP, in alliance with several other parties, was in power from 1998 to 2004, with Atal Bihari Vajpayee
as the Prime Minister
and Lal Krishna Advani
as his deputy. It is the biggest constituent of the National Democratic Alliance
which is currently in the opposition
in the parliament.
(BJS, Indian People's Union), which was founded in October 21, 1951 by Syama Prasad Mookerjee
as the political wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
. The fortunes of the young party took a dip in 1953, when Mookherjee was jailed in Kashmir
when Jawaharlal Nehru
. was the Indian Prime Minister
After Mookerjee's death in prison, the entire burden of nurturing the orphaned organisation and building it up as a nation-wide movement fell on the young shoulders of Deendayal Upadhyaya
. For 15 years, he remained the outfit's general secretary and built it up. He raised a band of dedicated workers imbued with idealism and provided the entire ideological framework of the outfit, but never seriously challenged the power of Indian National Congress. It did however groom future political leaders like Maan Singh and K.P. Singh, who were in the party when it was a constituent of the Janata Party
government in 1977.
The Janata government did not last long. Morarji Desai resigned as Prime Minister, and the Janata party was dissolved soon after. The BJS had devoted political organization to sustain the coalition and was left exhausted by the internecine wars within the Janata Party.
In 1980 Maan Singh, K.P. SINGH and Indraman Singh, founded the Bharatiya Janata Party with Vajpayee as its first President. The BJP was a strong critic of the Congress
government that followed the Janata rule, and while it opposed the Sikh militancy that was rising in the state of Punjab
, it also blamed Indira Gandhi for divisive and corrupt politics that fostered the militancy at national expense. Leader Darasingh opines that Vajpayee thus "brought in Hindu-Sikh harmony."
However, the BJP never supported Operation Bluestar, the BJP strongly protested violence against Sikhs in Delhi
that broke out in 1984 following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by one of her Sikh bodyguards. The BJP was left with only two parliamentary seats in the 1984 elections; the party, however, had established itself in the mainstream of Indian politics, and soon began expanding its organization to attract young Indians throughout the country. During this period, Vajpayee remained center-stage as party President and Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, but increasingly hard-line Hindu nationalists began to rise within the party and define its politics.
The BJP became the political voice of the Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir Movement
, which was led by activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the RSS, and was seeking to build a temple dedicated to Lord Rama
in place of the Babri mosque
in Ayodhya. Many people believed the site was the birthplace of the Lord, and there existed a temple long before Babri mosque
was built after demolishing the temple, and thus qualified as one of the most sacred sites of Hinduism
, where a temple should be reconstructed.
Currently the judgement is pending in the Supreme Court.
On December 6, 1992, hundreds of VHP and BJP activists broke down an organized protest into a frenzied attack, and razed the mosque. Over the following weeks, waves of violence between Hindus and Muslims erupted in various parts of the country, killing over 1000 people. The VHP was banned by the government, and many BJP leaders including Lal Krishna Advani were arrested briefly for provoking the destruction. Although widely condemned by many across the country for playing politics with sensitive issues, the BJP won the support of millions of conservative Hindus, as well as national prominence.
With victory in assembly elections of Gujarat and Maharashtra
in March 1995, and a good performance in the elections to the Karnataka
assembly in December 1994 propelled the BJP to the centerstage. During the BJP session at Mumbai in November 1995, BJP President L.K.Advani declared that Vajpayee would be the Prime Minister of India if the BJP won next parliamentary elections held in May 1996.
In the Lok Sabha elections held in 1998 the National Democratic Alliance
(NDA) obtained a simple majority
. This time, the BJP (NDA) had allied with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(AIADMK) and the Biju Janata Dal
besides its existing allies, the Samata Party
, the Shiromani Akali Dal
and Shiv Sena
. Outside support was provided by the Telugu Desam Party
. The NDA had a slim majority, and Vajpayee returned as Prime Minister after a 13-day stint in 1996. But the coalition ruptured in May 1999 when the leader of AIADMK, Jayalalitha
, withdrew her support, and fresh elections were again called.
On 13 October 1999, the BJP-led NDA won 303 seats. The BJP alone had its highest ever tally of 183. Vajpayee became Prime Minister for the third time, and Advani became the Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister
. This NDA Government lasted its term of five years. Vajpayee and his economic team, led by Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha
, continuing the policies initiated by the previous Congress Government under P. V. Narasimha Rao
and Manmohan Singh
, pushed through major privatizations of big government corporations, the liberalization of trade under World Trade Organization
guidelines, airline deregulation
, foreign investment
and ownership and allowed private companies such as Mahindra World City
and Reliance
to build Special Economic Zones where property developers could build new cities with world-class infrastructure for factories that export products.
The BJP and the NDA suffered an unexpected defeat in the general elections in 2004, and failed to muster a parliamentary majority. Manmohan Singh of the Congress Party
and United Progressive Alliance
succeeded Vajpayee as Prime Minister.
In the 2009 general election
s, BJP again faced defeat and its strength in Lok Sabha reduced to 159 with a loss of about 17 seats. The unexpected defeat of BJP is attributed to bad performance of the party in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand and Andhra Pradesh.
and LK Advani resigned ahead of schedule due to factionalism and controversies. Rajnath Singh held this post from 2006 to 2009, he was succeeded by Nitin Gadkari
. Beyond this, there are several Vice-Presidents, General-Secretaries, Treasurers and Secretaries. The National Executive consists of an undetermined number of senior party leaders from across the nation who are the highest decision-making body in the party. At the state level, a similar structure is in place, with every state unit being led by the respective President, who also officially serves a three-year term.
The rank-and-file leadership of BJP largely derives from the cadre of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
(RSS), which has millions of affiliates. It also maintains close links to other Sangh Parivar
organisations, such as Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Swadeshi Jagaran Manch
(an organisation promoting economic protectionism
).
Other organizations directly affiliated to the BJP include the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad
which is the students' wing of the party, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha
, which is the youth wing; Bharatiya Kisan Sangh
, the peasants' union; the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh
, which is the labour union. BJP is also associated with the BJP Mahila Morcha
and the BJP Minority Morcha
, which are the women's front and Minority front respectively.
has a special place in its ideology, the BJP's right-wing politics
include modern, conservatism
, social conservatism
, progressivism
and enlightened nation which draws inspiration from India's ancient Indian culture and values. The BJP emphasize the role of free market
s and individual achievement as the primary factors behind economic prosperity. To this end, they favor laissez-faire economics, fiscal conservatism
, and the promotion of personal responsibility over welfare programs. As per the party's constitution the objectives of the party are explained 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 comity 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.
The Party shall bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India
as by law established and to the principles of socialism, secularism and democracy and would uphold the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India."
The BJP stands for strong national defence, small government
, and Quasi-market
economic policies, but Integral Humanism
has been its core philosophy and identity ever since its inception. The BJP stand on economic policies saw a sudden volte face in the mid nineties from a support of swadeshi products to the embracing of free market ideas.
Another important factor is the ongoing territorial dispute over Jammu and Kashmir
and the wars of 1947-48, 1962, 1965, and 1971, and recently the 1999 Kargil War
. The party strongly advocates the view that Kashmir
should remain an integral part of the country.
Economic policy under BJP-led governments at the state and center has been heavily focused on infrastructure building and pro-reform, which is congenial to Indian interests and to necessary conforming to international regulations (like environment laws) market-oriented economic growth without making subtle changes to the existing policies.
BJP is currently in power in five states (Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh
, Karnataka
, Chhattisgarh
and Himachal Pradesh
) where the party enjoys a majority of its own. In five other states — Punjab
, Jharkhand
, Nagaland
, Uttarakhand
and Bihar
— it shares power with other political parties.
, a former chief justice of the Indian Supreme Court
, constituted to examine allegations of Gujarat state administration's involvement in the riots of 2002 said that there was no evidence to implicate either Modi or his administration in the riots.
, who was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
during the mosque’s demolition, has also come in for harsh criticism in the report. He is accused of posting bureaucrats and police officers who would stay silent during the mosque’s demolition in Ayodhya. Former Education Minister in NDA Government Mr. Murli Manohar Joshi
have also been found culpable in the demolition in the Liberhan Commissions' Report. Anju Gupta, an Indian police
officer appeared as a prosecution witness. She was in charge of Advani's security on the day of the demolition and she revealed that Advani and Murali Manohar Joshi made inflammatory speeches.
, Varun Gandhi
is alleged to have said that he "would chop the hands of anyone who dared to raise a finger on Hindus". This supposed hate speech
drew widespread criticism. Gandhi, however, has strongly denied making the speech, and claims that tapes showing the same were doctored by political rivals.
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major
Major party
A major party is a political party that holds substantial influence in a country's politics, standing in contrast to a minor party. It should not be confused with majority party.According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:...
political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament
Parliament of India
The Parliament of India is the supreme legislative body in India. Founded in 1919, the Parliament alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all political bodies in India. The Parliament of India comprises the President and the two Houses, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha...
. The Bharatiya Janata Party traditionally has supported Indian Nationalism
Indian nationalism
Indian nationalism refers to the many underlying forces that molded the Indian independence movement, and strongly continue to influence the politics of India, as well as being the heart of many contrasting ideologies that have caused ethnic and religious conflict in Indian society...
and strongly advocates conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
social policies, self-reliance, free market
Free market
A free market is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts...
capitalistic
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
policy, foreign policy driven by a nationalist agenda, and strong national defense. The party's platform
Party platform
A party platform, or platform sometimes also referred to as a manifesto, is a list of the actions which a political party, individual candidate, or other organization supports in order to appeal to the general public for the purpose of having said peoples' candidates voted into political office or...
is generally considered right of center
Centre-right
The centre-right or center-right is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals, political parties, or organizations whose views stretch from the centre to the right on the left-right spectrum, excluding far right stances. Centre-right can also describe a coalition of centrist...
in the Indian political spectrum.
The BJP, in alliance with several other parties, was in power from 1998 to 2004, with Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Atal Bihari Vajpayee is an Indian statesman who served as the tenth Prime Minister of India three times – first for a brief term of 13 days in 1996, and then for two terms from 1998 to 2004. After his first brief period as Prime Minister in 1996, Vajpayee headed a coalition government from...
as the Prime Minister
Prime Minister of India
The Prime Minister of India , as addressed to in the Constitution of India — Prime Minister for the Union, is the chief of government, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader of the majority party in parliament...
and Lal Krishna Advani
Lal Krishna Advani
Lal Kishanchand Advani known as Lal Krishna Advani is a Veteran Indian politician. A former president of the Bharatiya Janata Party , which is currently the major opposition party in the Indian Parliament. He also served as a Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004...
as his deputy. It is the biggest constituent of the National Democratic Alliance
National Democratic Alliance (India)
The National Democratic Alliance is a centre-right coalition of political parties in India. At the time of its formation in 1998, it was led by the Bharatiya Janata Party and had thirteen constituent parties. Its convenor is Sharad Yadav, and its honorary chairman is former prime minister Atal...
which is currently in the opposition
Official Opposition (India)
Official Opposition is a term used in India to designate the political party which has secured the largest number of seats in the Lower House of parliament but is not a part of the ruling party or coalition....
in the parliament.
History
The BJP is the current form of the erstwhile Bharatiya Jana SanghBharatiya Jana Sangh
The Bharatiya Jana Sangh existed from 1951 to 1980, whereupon it was succeeded by the Bharatiya Janata Party, one of India's largest political parties...
(BJS, Indian People's Union), which was founded in October 21, 1951 by Syama Prasad Mookerjee
Syama Prasad Mookerjee
Dr. Shyama Prasad Mookerjee was a minister in Jawaharlal Nehru's Cabinet as a Minister for Industry and Supply....
as the political wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or National Patriotic Organization), also known the Sangh, is a right-wing Hindu nationalist, paramilitary, volunteer, and allegedly militant organization for Hindu males in India...
. The fortunes of the young party took a dip in 1953, when Mookherjee was jailed in Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
when Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
. was the Indian Prime Minister
After Mookerjee's death in prison, the entire burden of nurturing the orphaned organisation and building it up as a nation-wide movement fell on the young shoulders of Deendayal Upadhyaya
Deendayal Upadhyaya
Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya , along with Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee, was an important leader of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, now the Bharatiya Janata Party.-Earlier Life and Education:...
. For 15 years, he remained the outfit's general secretary and built it up. He raised a band of dedicated workers imbued with idealism and provided the entire ideological framework of the outfit, but never seriously challenged the power of Indian National Congress. It did however groom future political leaders like Maan Singh and K.P. Singh, who were in the party when it was a constituent of the Janata Party
Janata Party
The Janata Party was an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the state of emergency imposed by the government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Indian National Congress...
government in 1977.
The Janata government did not last long. Morarji Desai resigned as Prime Minister, and the Janata party was dissolved soon after. The BJS had devoted political organization to sustain the coalition and was left exhausted by the internecine wars within the Janata Party.
In 1980 Maan Singh, K.P. SINGH and Indraman Singh, founded the Bharatiya Janata Party with Vajpayee as its first President. The BJP was a strong critic of the Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
government that followed the Janata rule, and while it opposed the Sikh militancy that was rising in the state of Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
, it also blamed Indira Gandhi for divisive and corrupt politics that fostered the militancy at national expense. Leader Darasingh opines that Vajpayee thus "brought in Hindu-Sikh harmony."
However, the BJP never supported Operation Bluestar, the BJP strongly protested violence against Sikhs in Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
that broke out in 1984 following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by one of her Sikh bodyguards. The BJP was left with only two parliamentary seats in the 1984 elections; the party, however, had established itself in the mainstream of Indian politics, and soon began expanding its organization to attract young Indians throughout the country. During this period, Vajpayee remained center-stage as party President and Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, but increasingly hard-line Hindu nationalists began to rise within the party and define its politics.
The BJP became the political voice of the Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir Movement
Ram Janmabhoomi
Ram Janmabhoomi is the "Birthplace of Lord Rama."Lord Rama is a major God in Hindu theology and the Hindu religion where He is described as an Avatar of Lord Vishnu in Hinduism. The exact location of Lord Rama's birth as stated in holy Ramayan as being in the city of Ayoudhya in Uttar Pardesh...
, which was led by activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the RSS, and was seeking to build a temple dedicated to Lord Rama
Rama
Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...
in place of the Babri mosque
Babri Mosque
The Babri Mosque , was a mosque in Ayodhya, a city in the Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh, on Ramkot Hill . It was destroyed in 1992 when a political rally developed into a riot involving 150,000 people, despite a commitment to the Indian Supreme Court by the rally organisers that the mosque...
in Ayodhya. Many people believed the site was the birthplace of the Lord, and there existed a temple long before Babri mosque
Babri Mosque
The Babri Mosque , was a mosque in Ayodhya, a city in the Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh, on Ramkot Hill . It was destroyed in 1992 when a political rally developed into a riot involving 150,000 people, despite a commitment to the Indian Supreme Court by the rally organisers that the mosque...
was built after demolishing the temple, and thus qualified as one of the most sacred sites of Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
, where a temple should be reconstructed.
Currently the judgement is pending in the Supreme Court.
On December 6, 1992, hundreds of VHP and BJP activists broke down an organized protest into a frenzied attack, and razed the mosque. Over the following weeks, waves of violence between Hindus and Muslims erupted in various parts of the country, killing over 1000 people. The VHP was banned by the government, and many BJP leaders including Lal Krishna Advani were arrested briefly for provoking the destruction. Although widely condemned by many across the country for playing politics with sensitive issues, the BJP won the support of millions of conservative Hindus, as well as national prominence.
With victory in assembly elections of Gujarat and Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
in March 1995, and a good performance in the elections to the Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
assembly in December 1994 propelled the BJP to the centerstage. During the BJP session at Mumbai in November 1995, BJP President L.K.Advani declared that Vajpayee would be the Prime Minister of India if the BJP won next parliamentary elections held in May 1996.
In the Lok Sabha elections held in 1998 the National Democratic Alliance
National Democratic Alliance (India)
The National Democratic Alliance is a centre-right coalition of political parties in India. At the time of its formation in 1998, it was led by the Bharatiya Janata Party and had thirteen constituent parties. Its convenor is Sharad Yadav, and its honorary chairman is former prime minister Atal...
(NDA) obtained a simple majority
Simple majority
Simple majority may refer to:In American and Canadian usage:* Majority, a voting requirement of more than half of all ballots castUsage elsewhere:* Plurality, a voting requirement of more ballots cast for a proposition than for any other option...
. This time, the BJP (NDA) had allied with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. The party was founded by M. G. Ramachandran and is now headed by J. Jayalalithaa. The party headquarters is in Royapettah, Chennai, and was gifted to the party in 1986 by its...
(AIADMK) and the Biju Janata Dal
Biju Janata Dal
The Biju Janata Dal is a state political party of the Indian state of Orissa led by Naveen Patnaik, son of former state chief minister Biju Patnaik. It was founded on 27 December 1997.-History:...
besides its existing allies, the Samata Party
Samata Party
The Samata Party is a political party in India. Initially formed as an offshoot of the Janata Dal in 1994 by Nitish Kumar and George Fernandes. The reason given was that the Janata Dal had shifted to casteism...
, the Shiromani Akali Dal
Shiromani Akali Dal
The Shiromani Akali Dal , translation: Supreme Akali Party) is a Sikh nationalist political parties based in Punjab. The current party to be recognized by the Election Commission of India is the one led by Parkash Singh Badal...
and Shiv Sena
Shiv Sena
Shiv Sena , is a political party in India founded on 19 June 1966 by Balasaheb Thackeray. It is currently headed by Thackeray's son, Uddhav Thackeray...
. Outside support was provided by the Telugu Desam Party
Telugu Desam Party
Telugu Desam Party or TDP is a regional political party in India's Andhra Pradesh state. It was founded by former Telugu film star N. T...
. The NDA had a slim majority, and Vajpayee returned as Prime Minister after a 13-day stint in 1996. But the coalition ruptured in May 1999 when the leader of AIADMK, Jayalalitha
J. Jayalalithaa
Jayalalithaa Jayaram ; born 24 February 1948) commonly referred to as J. Jayalalitha, is the Chief Minister of the state of Tamil Nadu, India. She is the incumbent general secretary of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam , a Dravidian party. She is called Amma and Puratchi Thalaivi by her...
, withdrew her support, and fresh elections were again called.
On 13 October 1999, the BJP-led NDA won 303 seats. The BJP alone had its highest ever tally of 183. Vajpayee became Prime Minister for the third time, and Advani became the Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister
Minister for Home Affairs (India)
The Home Minister, or more properly the Minister for Home Affairs, is a position in the Indian Cabinet, at both State and Union levels. The Home Ministry is one of the most important, powerful and high profile ministry after the Prime Minister...
. This NDA Government lasted its term of five years. Vajpayee and his economic team, led by Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha
Yashwant Sinha
Yashwant Sinha is an Indian politician and a former finance minister of India and foreign minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's cabinet...
, continuing the policies initiated by the previous Congress Government under P. V. Narasimha Rao
P. V. Narasimha Rao
Pamulaparti Venkata "Narasimha Rao" was the ninth Prime Minister of India . He led an important administration, overseeing a major economic transformation and several home incidents affecting national security of India. Rao accelerated the dismantling of the Licence Raj. He is often referred to as...
and Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. A Sikh, he is the first non-Hindu to occupy the office. Singh is also the 7th Prime Minister belonging to the Indian...
, pushed through major privatizations of big government corporations, the liberalization of trade under World Trade Organization
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948...
guidelines, airline deregulation
Airline deregulation
Airline deregulation is the process of removing entry and price restrictions on airlines affecting, in particular, the carriers permitted to serve specific routes. In the United States, the term usually applies to the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978...
, foreign investment
Foreign direct investment
Foreign direct investment or foreign investment refers to the net inflows of investment to acquire a lasting management interest in an enterprise operating in an economy other than that of the investor.. It is the sum of equity capital,other long-term capital, and short-term capital as shown in...
and ownership and allowed private companies such as Mahindra World City
Mahindra World City
Mahindra World City may refer to:* Mahindra World City, New Chennai,a premier Special Economic zone in the South of IT Corridor.* Mahindra World City, Jaipur, an integrated business complex in Jaipur...
and Reliance
Reliance Industries
Reliance Industries Limited is an Indian conglomerate company headquartered at Mumbai, India. The company operates through three business segments: petrochemicals, refining, and oil and gas, other segment of the company includes textile, retail business, special economic zone development and...
to build Special Economic Zones where property developers could build new cities with world-class infrastructure for factories that export products.
The BJP and the NDA suffered an unexpected defeat in the general elections in 2004, and failed to muster a parliamentary majority. Manmohan Singh of the Congress Party
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
and United Progressive Alliance
United Progressive Alliance
The United Progressive Alliance is a ruling coalition of center-left political parties heading the government of India. The coalition is led by the Indian National Congress , which is currently the single largest political party in the Lok Sabha...
succeeded Vajpayee as Prime Minister.
In the 2009 general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
s, BJP again faced defeat and its strength in Lok Sabha reduced to 159 with a loss of about 17 seats. The unexpected defeat of BJP is attributed to bad performance of the party in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand and Andhra Pradesh.
Organisation
The highest authority in the party is the President. Officially, the BJP constitution provides for a three-year term for the President. Recently, both Venkaiah NaiduVenkaiah Naidu
M. Venkaiah Naidu is an Indian politician. From 2002 to 2004, he was the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is currently the opposition party in the Parliament of India. He resigned on October 18, 2004 and was succeeded by L.K...
and LK Advani resigned ahead of schedule due to factionalism and controversies. Rajnath Singh held this post from 2006 to 2009, he was succeeded by Nitin Gadkari
Nitin Gadkari
Nitin Gadkari ;is a senior Indian politician and the current President of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is best known for the works during his tenure as a Public Works Department Minister in the state of Maharashta when he constructed a series of roads, highways and flyovers across the state...
. Beyond this, there are several Vice-Presidents, General-Secretaries, Treasurers and Secretaries. The National Executive consists of an undetermined number of senior party leaders from across the nation who are the highest decision-making body in the party. At the state level, a similar structure is in place, with every state unit being led by the respective President, who also officially serves a three-year term.
The rank-and-file leadership of BJP largely derives from the cadre of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or National Patriotic Organization), also known the Sangh, is a right-wing Hindu nationalist, paramilitary, volunteer, and allegedly militant organization for Hindu males in India...
(RSS), which has millions of affiliates. It also maintains close links to other Sangh Parivar
Sangh Parivar
The Sangh Parivar refers to the family of organisations of Hindu nationalists which have been started by members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or are inspired by its ideas. The Sangh Parivar represents the Hindu nationalist movement. It includes the RSS and several dozen smaller...
organisations, such as Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Swadeshi Jagaran Manch
Swadeshi Jagaran Manch
The Swadeshi Jagaran Manch or SJM is an economic wing of Sangh Parivar that again took the tool of Swadeshi advocated in India before its independence to destabilize the British Empire. SJM took to the promotion of Swadeshi industries and culture as a dote against LPG. It is usually recognised as...
(an organisation promoting economic protectionism
Protectionism
Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...
).
Other organizations directly affiliated to the BJP include the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad , is an all India student organization working in the field of education. ABVP was founded in 1948 and formally registered on 9 July 1949.-History:...
which is the students' wing of the party, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha
Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha
The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha , translation: Indian Popular Youth Front) is the youth wing of Bharatiya Janata Party . It is founded in 1978 and first national president was Kalraj Mishra.-Organization:...
, which is the youth wing; Bharatiya Kisan Sangh
Bharatiya Kisan Sangh
The Bharatiya Kisan Sangh is an Indian farmers' representative organization affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. It is one of the well-known Sangh Parivar organization. The BKS was established by Dattopantji Thengdi on March 4, 1979 at Kota, Rajasthan. It has units in all states of...
, the peasants' union; the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh
Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh
The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh is the largest central trade union organization in India. It was founded by Dattopantji Thengdi on July 23, 1955, which also happens to the birthday of Bal Gangadhar Tilak....
, which is the labour union. BJP is also associated with the BJP Mahila Morcha
BJP Mahila Morcha
BJP Mahila Morcha vice president sarita bhadauria is one of the women wing leader of Bharatiya Janata Party...
and the BJP Minority Morcha
BJP Minority Morcha
BJP Minority Morcha is the minority wing of Bharatiya Janata Party, one of the major political parties in India.-Organization:The BJP is one of the few parties in India to have a popular-based governing structure, where workers and leaders at the local level have a great say in much of the...
, which are the women's front and Minority front respectively.
Ideology and political positions
The concept of Integral HumanismIntegral humanism
Integral humanism is the political philosophy practised by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the former Bharatiya Jana Sangh of India. It was first propounded by Deendayal Upadhyayain a brief volume entitled Integral Humanism in 1965, attempting to find a "third path" rejecting both communism and...
has a special place in its ideology, the BJP's right-wing politics
Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
include modern, conservatism
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
, social conservatism
Social conservatism
Social Conservatism is primarily a political, and usually morally influenced, ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. Social conservatism is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the federal government should have a greater role...
, progressivism
Progressivism
Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
and enlightened nation which draws inspiration from India's ancient Indian culture and values. The BJP emphasize the role of free market
Free market
A free market is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts...
s and individual achievement as the primary factors behind economic prosperity. To this end, they favor laissez-faire economics, fiscal conservatism
Fiscal conservatism
Fiscal conservatism is a political term used to describe a fiscal policy that advocates avoiding deficit spending. Fiscal conservatives often consider reduction of overall government spending and national debt as well as ensuring balanced budget of paramount importance...
, and the promotion of personal responsibility over welfare programs. As per the party's constitution the objectives of the party are explained 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 comity 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.
The Party shall bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India
Constitution of India
The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It lays down the framework defining fundamental political principles, establishes the structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions, and sets out fundamental rights, directive principles, and the duties of citizens...
as by law established and to the principles of socialism, secularism and democracy and would uphold the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India."
The BJP stands for strong national defence, small government
Small government
A Small government is one which minimizes its own activities. It is a concept important to classical liberalism and libertarianism.-In Hong Kong:...
, and Quasi-market
Quasi-market
A quasi-market is a public sector institutional structure that is designed to reap the supposed efficiency gains of free markets without losing the equity benefits of traditional systems of public administration and financing....
economic policies, but Integral Humanism
Integral humanism
Integral humanism is the political philosophy practised by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the former Bharatiya Jana Sangh of India. It was first propounded by Deendayal Upadhyayain a brief volume entitled Integral Humanism in 1965, attempting to find a "third path" rejecting both communism and...
has been its core philosophy and identity ever since its inception. The BJP stand on economic policies saw a sudden volte face in the mid nineties from a support of swadeshi products to the embracing of free market ideas.
Another important factor is the ongoing territorial dispute over Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir is the northernmost state of India. It is situated mostly in the Himalayan mountains. Jammu and Kashmir shares a border with the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south and internationally with the People's Republic of China to the north and east and the...
and the wars of 1947-48, 1962, 1965, and 1971, and recently the 1999 Kargil War
Kargil War
The Kargil War ,, also known as the Kargil conflict, was an armed conflict between India and Pakistan that took place between May and July 1999 in the Kargil district of Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control...
. The party strongly advocates the view that Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
should remain an integral part of the country.
Economic policy under BJP-led governments at the state and center has been heavily focused on infrastructure building and pro-reform, which is congenial to Indian interests and to necessary conforming to international regulations (like environment laws) market-oriented economic growth without making subtle changes to the existing policies.
BJP in various states
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
, Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
, Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh is a state in Central India, formed when the 16 Chhattisgarhi-speaking South-Eastern districts of Madhya Pradesh gained separate statehood on 1 November 2000....
and Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...
) where the party enjoys a majority of its own. In five other states — Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
, Jharkhand
Jharkhand
Jharkhand is a state in eastern India. It was carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000. Jharkhand shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east...
, Nagaland
Nagaland
Nagaland is a state in the far north-eastern part of India. It borders the state of Assam to the west, Arunachal Pradesh and part of Assam to the north, Burma to the east and Manipur to the south. The state capital is Kohima, and the largest city is Dimapur...
, Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand , formerly Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Land of Gods due to the many holy Hindu temples and cities found throughout the state, some of which are among Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious places of pilgrimage and worship...
and Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
— it shares power with other political parties.
List of current BJP Chief Ministers
- Raman SinghRaman SinghRaman Singh is the current Chief Minister of Chhatisgarh, from the Bharatiya Janata Party. He has been chief minister since December 7, 2003.-Political career:Dr. Raman Singh holds a degree in Ayurvedic Medicine...
- ChhattisgarhChhattisgarhChhattisgarh is a state in Central India, formed when the 16 Chhattisgarhi-speaking South-Eastern districts of Madhya Pradesh gained separate statehood on 1 November 2000.... - Narendra ModiNarendra ModiNarendra Damodardas Modi is the current Chief Minister of the Indian state of Gujarat.He was born in a middle class family in Vadnagar; and is a member of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh since childhood, as also an active politician since early in life. He holds a masters degree in political...
- Gujarat - Prem Kumar DhumalPrem Kumar DhumalPrem Kumar Dhumal is an Indian politician who was Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh from March 1998 to March 2003 and has been Chief Minister again since 1 January 2008.-Electoral career:...
- Himachal PradeshHimachal PradeshHimachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east... - D. V. Sadananda GowdaD. V. Sadananda GowdaDevaragunda Venkappa Sadananda Gowda is the Chief Minister of the state of Karnataka, India. He was representing the Udupi Chikmagalur constituency in Karnataka in the 15th Lok Sabha. He was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka on 4 August 2011 after being selected as legislative party...
- KarnatakaKarnatakaKarnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava... - Shivraj Singh ChauhanShivraj Singh ChauhanShivraj Singh Chouhan is the current chief minister of Madhya Pradesh. He replaced Babulal Gaur as the chief minister on 29 November 2005. He served as General Secretary of the BJP and State President, Madhya Pradesh BJP. He joined the RSS in 1972...
- Madhya PradeshMadhya PradeshMadhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city.... - B.C. Khanduri - UttarakhandUttarakhandUttarakhand , formerly Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Land of Gods due to the many holy Hindu temples and cities found throughout the state, some of which are among Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious places of pilgrimage and worship...
- Arjun MundaArjun MundaArjun Munda is an Indian Politician, former Member of Parliament to the 15th Lok Sabha. He resigned the 15th Lok Sabha membership on 26th February, 2011. Currently he is Chief Minister of Jharkhand....
- JharkhandJharkhandJharkhand is a state in eastern India. It was carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000. Jharkhand shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east...
2002 Gujarat religious communal violence
In 2002, communal religious riots took place in Gujarat under BJP rule between Hindus and Muslims. The National Human Rights Commission criticized the government, pointing to "a comprehensive failure on the part of the State Government of Gujarat to control persistent violations of rights. A judicial commission headed by G.T. NanavatiG.T. Nanavati
Girish Thakorlal Nanavati is a retired judge from the Supreme Court of India. After his retirement he has headed two commissions inquiring into the 1984 Anti-Sikh riots and the Godhra riots.-Early life:...
, a former chief justice of the Indian Supreme Court
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution of India...
, constituted to examine allegations of Gujarat state administration's involvement in the riots of 2002 said that there was no evidence to implicate either Modi or his administration in the riots.
Babri Masjid Demolition
In a 2005 book former Intelligence Bureau (IB) Joint Director Maloy Krishna Dhar claimed that Babri Masjid demolition was planned 10 months in advance by top leaders of RSS, BJP and VHP and raised questions over the way the then Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao, had handled the issue. Dhar claimed that he was directed to arrange the coverage of a key meeting of the BJP/Sangh Parivar and that the meeting "proved beyond doubt that they (RSS, BJP, VHP) had drawn up the blueprint of the Hindutva assault in the coming months and choreographed the ‘pralaya nritya’ (dance of destruction) at Ayodhya in December 1992... The RSS, BJP, VHP and the Bajrang Dal leaders present in the meeting amply agreed to work in a well-orchestrated manner." Claiming that the tapes of the meeting were personally handed over by him to his boss, he asserts that he has no doubts that his boss had shared the contents with the Prime Minister (Rao) and the Home Minister (S B Chavan). The author claimed that there was silent agreement that Ayodhya offered "a unique opportunity to take the Hindutva wave to the peak for deriving political benefit."Liberhan Commission findings
A 2009 report, authored by Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan, blamed 68 people for the demolition of the mosque - mostly leaders from the BJP and a few bureaucrats. Among those named in the report were AB Vajpayee, the former BJP prime minister, and LK Advani, the party's then (2009) leader in parliament. Kalyan SinghKalyan Singh
Kalayan Singh is an Indian politician from the state of Uttar Pradesh. He has served 3 times as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.-Role in demolition of Babri Masjid:...
, who was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
during the mosque’s demolition, has also come in for harsh criticism in the report. He is accused of posting bureaucrats and police officers who would stay silent during the mosque’s demolition in Ayodhya. Former Education Minister in NDA Government Mr. Murli Manohar Joshi
Murli Manohar Joshi
Murli Manohar Joshi was the Union Human Resources Development minister of India in the NDA government. Joshi is a leading member of the Bharatiya Janata Party...
have also been found culpable in the demolition in the Liberhan Commissions' Report. Anju Gupta, an Indian police
IPS
- Medicine and biology :* Induced pluripotent stem cell* Intermittent photic stimulation, a neuroimaging technique* Intraparietal sulcus, a region of the brain* Ips , a genus of bark beetle- Media and entertainment :...
officer appeared as a prosecution witness. She was in charge of Advani's security on the day of the demolition and she revealed that Advani and Murali Manohar Joshi made inflammatory speeches.
Alleged hate speech
During his campaign on a BJP ticket for the 2009 General elections in PilibhitPilibhit
Pilibhit |Hafizabad]]) is a city and a municipal board in the Pilibhit district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Pilibhit is the north-eastern most district of Bareilly division, situated in the Rohilkhand region of the sub-Himalayan Plateau belt on the boundary of Nepal, known for the origin...
, Varun Gandhi
Varun Gandhi
Feroze Varun Gandhi is an Indian politician and a Member of Parliament , a member of the 15th Lok Sabha. He is the son of the late Sanjay Gandhi and Maneka Gandhi and belongs to the Gandhi-Nehru family. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party National Executive and the youngest National...
is alleged to have said that he "would chop the hands of anyone who dared to raise a finger on Hindus". This supposed hate speech
Hate speech
Hate speech is, outside the law, any communication that disparages a person or a group on the basis of some characteristic such as race, color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, or other characteristic....
drew widespread criticism. Gandhi, however, has strongly denied making the speech, and claims that tapes showing the same were doctored by political rivals.
List of presidents of the party
| Year | Name | Rationale | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980–1986 | Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee is an Indian statesman who served as the tenth Prime Minister of India three times – first for a brief term of 13 days in 1996, and then for two terms from 1998 to 2004. After his first brief period as Prime Minister in 1996, Vajpayee headed a coalition government from... |
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| 1986–1991 | Lal Krishna Advani Lal Krishna Advani Lal Kishanchand Advani known as Lal Krishna Advani is a Veteran Indian politician. A former president of the Bharatiya Janata Party , which is currently the major opposition party in the Indian Parliament. He also served as a Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004... |
First Term | |
| 1991–1993 | Murli Manohar Joshi Murli Manohar Joshi Murli Manohar Joshi was the Union Human Resources Development minister of India in the NDA government. Joshi is a leading member of the Bharatiya Janata Party... |
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| 1993–1998 | Lal Krishna Advani Lal Krishna Advani Lal Kishanchand Advani known as Lal Krishna Advani is a Veteran Indian politician. A former president of the Bharatiya Janata Party , which is currently the major opposition party in the Indian Parliament. He also served as a Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004... |
Second Term | |
| 1998–2000 | Kushabhau Thakre Kushabhau Thakre Kushabhau Thakre was a political leader in India.-Biography:He was born in Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, India to parents Dr. Sundar Rao Shripati Rao Thakre and Smt. Shantabhai Sundar Rao Thakre . He was educated at Dhar and Gwalior. In 1942 he was inducted as a Pracharak by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh... |
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| 2000–2001 | Bangaru Laxman Bangaru Laxman Bangaru Laxman is an Indian politician. He was a minister of state for railways in Government of India from 1999 to 2000. Later he became President of Bharatiya Janata Party but resigned soon after Tehelka corruption case.-Early life:... |
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| 2001–2002 | Jana Krishnamurthi Jana Krishnamurthi K. Jana Krishnamurthi was an Indian political leader who rose to be the President of the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2001... |
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| 2002–2004 | Venkaiah Naidu Venkaiah Naidu M. Venkaiah Naidu is an Indian politician. From 2002 to 2004, he was the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is currently the opposition party in the Parliament of India. He resigned on October 18, 2004 and was succeeded by L.K... |
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| 2004–2006 | Lal Krishna Advani Lal Krishna Advani Lal Kishanchand Advani known as Lal Krishna Advani is a Veteran Indian politician. A former president of the Bharatiya Janata Party , which is currently the major opposition party in the Indian Parliament. He also served as a Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004... |
Third Term | |
| 2006–2009 | Rajnath Singh Rajnath Singh Rajnath Singh is a prominent Indian politician and who has served the country in many capacities. He was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, a Cabinet Minister in the NDA regime and became the National President of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is the single largest Opposition party in India... |
First Term (He was re-elected for second term in Dec 2006) | |
| 2009- | Nitin Gadkari Nitin Gadkari Nitin Gadkari ;is a senior Indian politician and the current President of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is best known for the works during his tenure as a Public Works Department Minister in the state of Maharashta when he constructed a series of roads, highways and flyovers across the state... |
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External links
- Bharatiya Janata Party — Official website
- Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad
- Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha