Key highlights:
- PM Modi spoke at the national council meeting about their party’s Mission 370 for the 2024 polls.
- Modi set goals for the next 100 days and streamlined objectives.
- Starting on February 25, the BJP will initiate a coordinated outreach campaign to connect with citizens who have directly gained from these initiatives.
- On Friday 16 February, the Congress party claimed that its bank accounts had been frozen over accusations of tax default.
Indian central power politics has been dominated by the two political parties, for the last several years, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress Party. Both put always hard effort into conquering the hearts of the people with their strategies and programs.
Keeping the general election ahead, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) outlined the party’s campaign and urged its members to work hard to achieve its goal for the party to win 370 seats in the elections.
BJP held the National Council meeting to formulate a strong political strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections. The 370-seat target pays homage to party ideologue Syama Prasad Mookerjee, citing the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, a long-held ideological goal of the BJP.
On Saturday, 17 February in Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, Vinod Tawde, the party’s National General Secretary, told the media that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in attendance. Modi spoke about their party’s Mission 370 for the 2024 polls. Nearly 11,500 BJP delegates from across the nation participated in the meeting.
“In today’s meeting, while guiding all the party workers, PM Modi said that BJP will get 370 and NDA 400 (seats), where 370 is not just a number but a tribute from us to Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee. Our campaign will be centred around development, the welfare of the poor and putting the nation at a place of pride in the world, we need to take these things to the people,”
– National General Secretary Vinod Tawde
The main focus was motivating the BJP cadre to get ready for the general elections in India, which are likely to be held in April or May, though the date is not confirmed yet.
He set goals for the next 100 days and streamlined objectives. This time, close to 990 million people will be eligible to vote. The event is being seen as an official clarion call by Modi to the members of the BJP. He did three things: reflected on the past 10 years, gave a target for the upcoming national elections, and laid down the mission for the next 5 years.According to opinion polls, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is set to return for a third term. While polls are on its side, the scattered opposition is making the chances of winning even better. There’s a series of defections, disagreements over seat sharing, and altercations out in the public.
While the opposition alliance is struggling to look united, the ruling alliance is confident of its win this year. The Indian Prime Minister ended his speech on a strategic note. He attributed his government’s success to not politics but national policy, once again asserting that a win for the NDA is a win for India.
BJP National Council Meeting Highlights:
- Date and Location:
- Started: February 17 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.
- Attendance:
- Over 11,500 BJP delegates nationwide participated over 2 days.
- Mission 370:
- PM Modi’s focus for 2024 polls: winning 370 seats in Lok Sabha Elections.
- Concluding Speech:
- PM Modi concluded on February 18.
- Urged members to strive for 370 seats.
- Electoral Context:
- Upcoming elections: 990 million eligible voters.
- Expected: April or May.
- PM Modi’s Focus:
- Reflected on past 10 years, set 100-day goals.
Modi invokes Mookerjee’s legacy, sets 370-seat target for BJP
PM Modi paid tribute to Mookerjee’s vision on the first day of the meeting and stressed the need to secure at least 370 seats in the Lok Sabha, representing a true adherence to the party’s founding principles.
Syama Prasad Mookerjee, a prominent figure in India’s political history, strongly resisted Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. In August 2019, the Modi government made a historic move by scrapping this article.
BJP General Secretary Vinod Tawde briefed reporters on Modi’s speech and said the prime minister advised the meeting that the opposition will bring up irrelevant and emotional issues during the polls but party members should focus on the issues of development, pro-poor policies, and the country’s rising global stature, according to Press Trust of India (PTI)’s report.
Vinod Tawde laid out the party’s strategy to interact with beneficiaries of various central government schemes. Starting on February 25, the BJP will initiate a coordinated outreach campaign to connect with citizens who have directly gained from these initiatives.
Modi Vows to Work for Nation, Not Power
Speaking to the BJP workers and senior leaders at the party’s national convention in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asserted that the aspirations of crores of women, the poor, and the youth of India are ‘Modi’s aspirations.’
“We have to connect with every segment of the society during the campaign, we have to win the confidence of everyone. We eliminated the country of huge scams, terror attacks; made efforts to enhance the living standards of the poor, middle class.”
– Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Modi said he was not seeking a third term to enjoy power but to work for the nation. “If I had thought of my home, it would not have been possible to build homes for crores of people,” he said. He added that 10 years of flawless governance and lifting 25 crore people out of poverty were no ordinary achievements.
“BJP has become the largest political party in the world. Before 2014, we had governments in only 5 states but after that, there are NDA governments in 17 states and pure BJP governments in 12 states. In the last ten years, the Modi Government have pulled around 25 crore people out of poverty, and have given these people new wings to fly.”
– BJP National President JP Nadda
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s recent economic white paper presented in Parliament, the building of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, the apparent chaos in the opposition INDIA coalition, the successful G20 Summit in 2023, and the nation’s global position were some of the topics that also featured prominently in the speeches of key BJP leaders and the resolutions at the meeting.
What Went Wrong with Congress Ahead of the Elections?
While the BJP is on the move to formulate a strong political strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, then we see a different picture at the Congress Camp.
Earlier in May 2023, the Congress party defeated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party in the legislative elections in Karnataka, the southern state that hosts Bengaluru, the startup hub. It also expected to win 4 of the 5 states – Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Chattisgarh, and Mizoram – that went to the polls for their state assemblies in November, according to opinion polls.
Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra (Uniting India March), which involved him walking more than 4,000km (2,485 miles) from Kanyakumari, the southernmost point of the country, to Indian-administered Kashmir in the north, over 150 days, would have been vindicated by a strong performance in those state elections.
A Congress leader in Madhya Pradesh, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that he had alerted the party leadership that they needed to focus on mobilizing the state’s 21% tribal vote, but his efforts were ignored. Many of the seats that Congress had secured in the 2018 assembly elections switched to the BJP. The same pattern occurred in Rajasthan and Chattisgarh where the BJP also captured most of the seats where tribal votes were influential, undoing what had happened in 2018.
But since then, the BJP has successfully eroded the INDIA alliance: Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of the northern state of Bihar has split from the alliance and joined the BJP-led NDA coalition. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has also quit INDIA, though it is uncertain whether she will join the NDA that she was previously a part of two decades ago.
The discontent within the party has increased in recent days. Ashok Chavan, a senior leader and former chief minister in Maharashtra – which has the most seats in the Lok Sabha after Uttar Pradesh – left the Congress to join the BJP. He was immediately nominated to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament.
On Friday 16 February, the Congress party claimed that its bank accounts had been frozen over accusations of tax default.
May 2023 Elections: Karnataka & Others
- Congress defeats BJP in Karnataka.
- Expected wins in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Chattisgarh, and Mizoram.
Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra
- 4,000km journey from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.
- Aims to unite India, potentially validated by election results.
Tribal Vote Mobilization
- Congress neglected mobilizing 21% tribal vote in Madhya Pradesh.
- BJP gains 2018 Congress seats, especially with tribal votes.
BJP’s Political Moves
- Nitish Kumar joins BJP-led NDA, leaving INDIA alliance.
- Mamata Banerjee quits INDIA, uncertain about NDA.
- Ashok Chavan defects to BJP, nominated to Rajya Sabha.
Congress Allegations
- Congress bank accounts frozen over tax default accusations on Feb 16.
In preparation for the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rallies under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, aiming for 370 parliamentary seats. Meanwhile, the Congress faces internal strife and electoral setbacks. There is a strong probability that BJP’s unwavering determination and strategic vision stand poised to shape India’s political trajectory in the coming years.
