BJP: Modi’s new blueprint for BJP, strong organization unlikely to fade away for decades

Nearly half a century ago, in an academic assessment of the development of political parties, Congress It was rightly described as an “election winning machine”. The party was found to be internally friendly and not innovative. Unlike in the pre-independence era, this came to remove supporters’ mobilization and instead preferred easy recourse to voter mobilization.

But the organizational network created by the oldest party during the freedom struggle was so strong that it continues even today. Nevertheless, erosion in its organizational structure is evident over the past decades and has undermined its ability to win elections. maybe the party is growing

It is proving its nemesis through the charm and charisma of individual leaders and families.

Congress’s strategic mistakes proved to be a lesson for them BJP and its most formidable organization man, Narendra Modi, Unlike the stagnant political entanglement in which the Congress finds itself today, the BJP not only mobilizes, but constantly tries to innovate itself. Soon after switching from the RSS to the party in the late 1980s, Modi invented new organization building techniques and introduced them into the BJP’s organizational expansion.

I have come across many new examples of mobilization, aggregation, adaptation and innovation, which have helped make the BJP the largest political party in the world today. Those in the media who were at the beating of the BJP in the nineties will remember that in frequent national executive meetings, the tallest leaders of the party – Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani – lamented over geographical boundaries. The party was negligible in the Vindhyas (South), the East (except in some areas of Bihar) and the North-East. How to break this barrier was a puzzle.

Only a decade ago, it was impossible that the BJP would be a serious contender in Assam and other north-eastern states. Today it is in pole position in the area. How did this change come about? It is Modi’s organizational brilliance here that he has turned the party around and pushed it out of his traditional pocket, through his unconventional techniques that, despite being in line with the party’s ideological compass, are revolutionary if not revolutionary. The previous generation of BJP leadership, being a staunch adherent to established traditions, was initially hesitant but adopted new methods after realizing the gains they made.

Since its inception in 1951, Bharatiya Jan Sangh (BJS, the predecessor of the BJP) implemented an ‘organisational’ model of expansion in which a large proportion of the party’s workers were associated with the RSS. As this method of party-building was restrictive in nature, the BJS expanded by including ‘notables’, such as descendants of royal families, into the party. This strategy, called “noteblization”, was invented by Congress. These two strategies were going on in the expansion of BJS and later BJP.

But Modi offered a more innovative way of expansion in which he chose individual leaders, irrespective of their ideology, who earned respect among the people by their work. He successfully implemented this method in Gujarat, Himachal PradeshHaryana and Madhya Pradesh.

It was indeed a strange coincidence that Modi arrived on the political scene in 1986, exactly when the Congress was headed by the Prime Minister. Rajiv Gandhi showing signs of decline. In Gujarat, Congress stalwarts like Madhavsinh Solanki were experimenting with the idea of ​​forming a social coalition of Khams (Kshatriyas, Harijans, Adivasis and Muslims). The formula initially reaped huge political dividends for the Congress, but then alienated the upper castes and the urban middle class from the party. The other side of the Kham politics was partly to blame when the unprecedented communal riots broke out in Ahmedabad in 1985. It was against this background that Modi, as the party’s state general secretary (organisation), began his bold experiments in party-building.

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) elections of 1987 were the first crucible of his experiment. They chose respected professionals – doctors, lawyers, teachers – as candidates representing the middle class. They attracted diverse social groups such as non-Gujarati migrant workers. Then there were the flamboyant leaders of non-Congress parties such as the Praja Socialist Party (PSP) – for example, Ashok Bhatt, who was inducted into the party. With similar innovations in campaigning, the BJP staged a coup, which was described as an impregnable stronghold of the Congress. After winning power in the AMC, Modi submitted a detailed plan to the party councilors to convert the AMC into a model of urban governance. The councilors were asked to approach the people and align themselves with the projects initiated by the AMC.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the AMC model practically gave rise to the future political governance of the state and ultimately the country. In my book, I have not only traced the skills that Modi applied to build his party but also to train the cadre. In those days he would often tell his party colleagues, “Training is a science.” His emphasis on training the cadre for future politics is unique as it orients them towards the party’s objectives. There is no doubt that the BJP can claim to have a vast army of trained cadre who are politically aware and ready to engage with government programs to achieve the political goals of the BJP.

Modi has built a strong organization which is unlikely to fade away for decades. What is the secret of this success? The general answers – ideology, charismatic leadership – fail to explain why the same factors didn’t go away before.