Affiliation Bharatiya Janata Party Status Prime Ministerial candidate : 13 September 2013Head of poll campaign : 10 June 2013 Key people Narendra Modi (Prime Ministerial Candidate)Rajnath Singh (Party President)Murli Manohar Joshi (Manifesto Committee)Nitin Gadkari (Vision Document) SlogansEk Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat ("United India, Great India")Sabka Saath, Sabka VikasAchhe din aane waale hain! Chants Jan–Jan Modi, Ghar-Ghar Modi Abki Baar Modi Sarkar("Time for Change, Time for Modi.") Website www.bjp.org www.india272.com
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is one of the major political parties in India and is the main opposition party during the 15th Lok Sabha. For the 2014 Indian General Election, the BJP contested as the leading party of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) with Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate. The important issues during the campaign included price hikes, corruption, the economy, national security, basic infrastructure such as roads and railways, and access to basic needs such as electricity and water. The party promised a vibrant and participatory democracy, inclusive and sustainable development, quality of life, productive youth, a globally competitive economy, open and transparent government, and pro-active and pro-people governance in its manifesto.
Leadership In March 2013, Narendra Modi was appointed to the BJP Parliamentary Board, the party's highest decision-making body, and was chosen to be chairman of the party's Central Election Campaign Committee. On 10 June 2013, Modi was selected to head the poll campaign for the elections at the national level executive meeting of BJP in Goa. The party's senior leader L.K. Advani resigned from all his posts at the party following the selection. However, Advani withdrew his resignation the next day at the urging of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. On 19 July 2013, a 12-member committee, headed by Modi and under the guidance of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Rajnath Singh and Advani was appointed at the Goa conclave which included Murli Manohar Joshi, M. Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Ananth Kumar, Thawar Chand Gehlot, Ram Lal, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. Further sub-committees were made headed by senior party leaders. In September 2013, BJP announced Modi as their prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
A fortnight after he was anointed as BJP's prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi on Sunday relinquished the post of election campaign committee chief to which party president Rajnath Singh was appointed.
Background The 15th Lok Sabha was due to complete its constitutional term on 31 May 2014. Hence the general election was declared by the Election Commission for the constitution of 16th Lok Sabha in India. The election were held in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May 2014. Following its consecutive defeat in the 2004 and 2009 general elections, BJP had been the principal opposition party in parliament and claimed to secure largest number of parliamentary seats under the leadership of its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi who had been gaining ground for a national role after his continued term of 14 years as Gujarat Chief Minister.
BJP won an absolute majority in the 2014 elections with 282 seats making it the first time ever in the 67-year history of independent India that a non-Congress party achieved a simple majority on its own.
Expansion of Alliance Following the declaration of Modi as the head of the BJP's election campaign, Janata Dal (United) which had been a key ally of NDA for 17 years had walked out of the coalition as it feared Modi's elevation would wean away its Muslim voters. The parties in and supporting the NDA are listed below with the number of parliamentary constituencies being contested by them : PartyBase StateSeats Contesting Bharatiya Janata Party National Party 428 Shiv Sena Maharashtra 20 Swabhimani Paksha Maharashtra 2 Republican Party of India (Athvale) Maharashtra 1 Rashtriya Samaj Paksha Maharashtra 1 Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam Tamil Nadu 14 Pattali Makkal Katchi Tamil Nadu 8 Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Tamil Nadu 7 Kongunadu Makkal Desia Katchi Tamil Nadu 1 Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi Tamil Nadu 1 All India N.R. Congress Puducherry 1 Telugu Desam Party Andhra Pradesh 30 Jana Sena Party Andhra Pradesh 0 Lok Janshakti Party Bihar 7 Rashtriya Lok Samata Party Bihar 3 Kerala Congress (Nationalist) Kerala 1 Revolutionary Socialist Party (Bolshevik) Kerala 1 Shiromani Akali Dal Punjab 10 Haryana Janhit Congress Haryana 2 Apna Dal Uttar Pradesh 2 National People's Party (India) Meghalaya 1 Naga People's Front Nagaland 1 United Democratic Front Mizoram 1 Manipur Peoples Party Manipur 0 Gorkha Janmukti Morcha West Bengal 0 Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party Goa 0 New Justice Party Tamil Nadu * North-East Regional Political Front North East # National Democratic Alliance – Total India 543 * New Justice Party President Contesting in one seat as BJP Candidate in Lotus Symbol # North-East Regional Political Front Members NPP, NPF and MNF are contesting in each Seats & Other 8 Members supporting NDA Candidates
In Varanasi, Modi also received support from the newly founded Bharatiya Awam Party, which aims to represents Muslim women.Women-only party with a difference roots for Modi – Hindustan Times
Results
Bharatiya Janata Party +StateTotal SeatsSeats WonSeat ChangeAndaman & Nicobar Islands (UT)11Andhra Pradesh252 2Arunachal Pradesh21 1Assam147 3Bihar4022 10Chandigarh (UT)11 1Chhattisgarh1110Dadra & Nagar Haveli (UT)11Daman & Diu (UT)11Goa22 1Gujarat2626 11Haryana107 7Himachal Pradesh44 1Jammu & Kashmir63 3Jharkhand1412 4Karnataka2817 2Kerala200Lakshadweep (UT)10Madhya Pradesh2927 11Maharashtra4823 14Manipur20Meghalaya20Mizoram10Nagaland10NCT of Delhi77 7Orissa211 1Puducherry (UT)10Punjab132 1Rajasthan2525 21Sikkim10Tamil Nadu391 1Telangana 171 1Tripura20Uttar Pradesh8071 61Uttarakhand55 1West Bengal422 1Total 543282 166
Issues
Corruption
Corruption is widespread in India. India is ranked 95 out of a 179 countries in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, but its score has improved consistently from 2.7 in 2002 to 3.1 in 2011.Believe it or not! India is becoming less corrupt . CNN-IBN. 26 September 2007. In India, corruption takes the form of bribes, tax evasion, exchange controls, embezzlement, etc. Since the last general election in 2009, the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement by Anna Hazare, and other similar moves by Baba Ramdev, have gathered momentum and political interest. The anti-corruption movement activist Anna Hazare began a hunger strike at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi in August 2011 with the chief legislative aim to alleviate corruption in the Indian government through introduction of the Jan Lokpal Bill. Another aim, spearheaded by Ramdev, was the repatriation of black money from Swiss and other foreign banks.
Economy Since 1991, when India undertook a series of reforms in the face of a balance-of-payments crisis, the nation has been governed by a broad agreement about its economy. Starting in 2012, India entered a period of more anaemic growth, with growth slowing down to 4.4%. Other economic problems also became apparent: a plunging Indian rupee, a persistent high current account deficit and slow industrial growth. Hit by the US Federal Reserve's decision to taper quantitative easing, foreign investors had been rapidly pulling out money from India though this has now reversed with the Stock market at near all-time high and the current account deficit narrowing substantially. Bloomberg highlighted India's slowing economy amidst a record high current account deficit and a falling rupee in summer 2013. It pointed out to a lack of infrastructure investment and a government increasingly likely to give subsidies the national finances cannot afford just before the election. Other points it mentioned were stagnant policymaking and an inefficient bureaucracy. The economy was the main issue in the campaign. The lack of a clear mandate as a result of the election could lead to an increase in the price of gold in the country.
Inflation Inflation remains stubbornly high at 7.55% as of August 2012, the highest amotrade (counting exports and imports) stands at $606.7 billion and is currently the 9th largest in the world.
Manifesto A manifesto committee was constituted by the party to frame a manifesto for the general election. It was led by Murli Manohar Joshi and MP Jaswant Singh, MP Yashwant Sinha, former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, Sushil Kumar Modi, Shahnawaz Hussain and others as the members of the committee. On 7 April 2014, the day when the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls began, BJP unveiled its election manifesto. The manifesto covered a wide range of issues ranging from economic growth to social sector problems. The manifesto focused on improving the country's economy and infrastructure, ending policy paralysis and curbing widespread corruption. The manifesto sought to achieve following aims : Price rise: Manifesto proposed to lower inflation by taking steps such as, special Courts to stop hoarding and black marketing, setting up a Price Stabilization Fund, evolving a single 'National Agriculture Market, leveraging on technology to disseminate real time data, area specific crops and vegetables linked to food habits of the people. Corruption: The BJP said that to eliminate the scope of corruption, it will emphasise on technology enabled e-Governance. Apart from that public awareness, policy-driven governance and simplification of the tax regime have also been cited as solutions to the problem of corruption. E-Governance: There was a special mention of e-governance and IT as an enabler of empowerment. The manifesto said that BJP will focus on increasing the penetration and usage of broadband across the country, leverage technology for e-Governance, generate IT based jobs in rural and semi-urban areas, use mobile and e-Banking to ensure financial inclusion. Open Government and Accountable Administration: The manifesto said that Administrative reforms will be a priority for the BJP if it comes to power in the elections. The measures will include digitisation of government records, opening up government to draw expertise from the industry, academia and society into the services. BJP also emphasised that the hallmarks of its governance model would be People-centric, Policy driven, Time bound delivery, Minimum Government, Maximum Governance.
The manifesto reiterated BJP's stand to explore all possibilities within the framework of the Constitution to facilitate the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Touching the other contentious issues like abrogation of Art 370 giving special status to Jammu & Kashmir and enactment of Uniform Civil Code were included in the manifesto. The manifesto gave high priority to revival of growth and job creation, but remained silent on the number of jobs to be created. It said no to FDI in multi-brand retail but said that FDI will be allowed in sectors wherever needed for job and asset creation, infrastructure and acquisition of niche technology and specialised expertise. The party promised to set up a Price Stabilisation Fund to check inflation, ensure fiscal discipline and pursue banking sector reforms to deal with the problem of rising bad loans. The manifesto said that a dedicated fund will be created for integrated development of Himalayan region. BJP promised to bring all states on board to implement GST. The manifesto promised launch of Diamond Quadrilateral project of high speed train network and it sought to develop freight and industrial corridors and boost development of coastal areas through 'Sagar Mala project.
Rallies