Parliamentarian – July 2019

40 PARLIAMENTARIAN l juLy 2019

them in a series of activities everyone

took it as a ploy to avoid real issues. No

one has the clue that Modi was basically

building a future vote bank for the BJP,

a vote bank which was not captive of

RSS which was exclusively created for

the BJP by the BJP.

These are the voters who will keep

the BJP in power in future. Modi

specifically underlined the aspirations

of teenagers and developed devices and

campaigns aimed at them. Evidence is

now available to indicate that most of

first time voters voted for the BJP and

party is strategizing in a manner that

this trend is bound to be maintained for

a long time.

It would be interesting to mention

that some top stalwarts of the Party

were always of the opinion that party

means the parliamentary or legislative

party and rest is the RSS responsibility.

Modi and Shah worked relentlessly and

successfully came out of this by

establishing a BJP’s loyal youth vote

bank which has no leaning towards the

RSS.

Interestingly RSS is also happy with

this addendum, as this youth vote bank

and RSS both are the votaries of the

concept of a great Indian Nation. Earlier

it was RSS who through Akhil Bharitya

Vidyarthi Parishad acted as a nursery

to groom BJP voters and workers. But

by targeting first time voters and

connecting with them by addressing

their aspirations and convincing them

that Modi is building a new India. The

BJP has created a vote bank which is

exclusively for the party and has

nothing to do with RSS .Off course the

idea of Indian nationalism is a common

connect between them.

The preceding avatar of BJP, the

Bharitya Jansangh was founded in 1951

to push the agenda of cultural

nationalism at centre stage of national

politics and oust the so called unholy

alliance of the Congress and the

Communists from the power. The

initial years of the Bhartiya Jansangh

were not very encouraging. The first

general elections in 1952 were a great

disappointment. Only Dr. Mukherjee

and two of his friends were elected to

Lok Sabha. However on the basis of its

scoring 3.06% of the votes, the party

was recognized as a national political

pa r t y.

However, despite a general belief in

political circles that the Bhartiya Jan

Sangh will cease to exist after the death

of its founder, Dr. Shyama Prasad

Mukherjee. The results of the second

general elections proved that the

Bhartiya Jan Sangh not only survived,

but moved in upward direction as well.

After a long struggle and facing

numerous rough weathers during

Nehru-Indira era it reached its pinnacle

in post-Emergency Janata Party regime

during 1977-79 when it had 93 MPs.

After the downfall of Desai ministry

due to the rift within the Janata Party

on the issue of Jan Sangh’s affiliation

with RSS, the BJP was established in

April 1980.

The BJP was distinct in thought from

its predecessor and propounded a new

concept of Gandhian Socialism and a

tag line of “party with a difference”. The

adoption of Gandhian Socialism as a

policy concept faced open defiance

from stalwarts like Rajmata Vijayaraje

Scindia, the founder Vice President, and

Bhairo Singh Shekhawat, the late Vice

President of India and former Chief

Minister of Rajasthan. But Party has

accepted it as one of its core values. And

on the basis of that in the same

convention Justice Mohammed Currim

Chagla, perceived BJP as “the alternative

that can replace the present (Indira

politics|the new BJp