BJP Now in Search of New Ideology to Attract Public Sentiment

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has currently reached a stage where it needs new ideas and a change in its communication style to attract public sentiment once again. According to a report by News18, the party, which has enjoyed political dominance for the last 12 years, is now facing increasing challenges related to the Constitution, elections, and institutional credibility. To maintain its influential hold, the ruling party will now have to find innovative ideas and prepare a new agenda for a changing India.

The main basis of the BJP's success has always been that it forced the opposition to answer its questions. However, the current situation is becoming the opposite of this and uncomfortable for the party. Looking at past examples, on September 13, 2013, in the presence of then BJP President Rajnath Singh, Narendra Modi was formally declared as the party's Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. This announcement was made six months before the elections, which immediately put the Congress in a defensive position.

Congress, which traditionally did not declare a Prime Ministerial candidate before elections, was suddenly forced to face questions regarding the contest between Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi. On that day, Congress spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury, ignoring the matter, said, "We are not worried about this at all." Nevertheless, the issue became serious, and Congress leaders like Ajit Jogi suggested that Rahul Gandhi should lead the party in the elections. In this way, the BJP set the political agenda, and the Congress continued merely to provide responses to it.

The effect of this strategy was seen just two days later. In his first election rally as the NDA's Prime Ministerial candidate in Rewari, Haryana, addressing former soldiers, Narendra Modi promised that if the BJP came to power, 'One Rank, One Pension' (OROP) would be implemented. This long-standing demand of retired soldiers became a major election issue after Modi's intervention. The Congress government could not understand how to react to this unexpected turn. Modi raised this issue until 2014, including the Sujanpur rally on February 17. Eventually, the UPA government had to theoretically accept OROP in the interim budget, which the BJP counted as its victory.

Since 2014, the Congress, remaining in the opposition, has launched several sharp attacks on the BJP, but in the last 12 years, the BJP has never lost its grip on the public narrative and public discourse. In 2019, the BJP successfully shifted the discussion on the Pulwama terrorist attack and the Balakot air strike to the issue of national security and leadership. It became difficult for the opposition to establish any new narrative as an alternative to this.

Before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi fought the election with the sole agenda of alleged corruption in the purchase of Rafale fighter jets. Citing the Supreme Court, he claimed that 'Chowkidar-ji' had stolen and issued a direct challenge saying that the Supreme Court had confirmed the corruption. He later had to apologize to the Supreme Court for this statement. However, in the heat of the election atmosphere, Prime Minister Modi added the word 'Chowkidar' to his social media handle and asked millions of followers to do the same. Within hours, Rahul Gandhi's efforts backfired, and the BJP won the 2019 elections by winning 303 seats.