Also, in Himachal Pradesh, BJP lost by a vote share of less than 1%. In Gujarat, BJP decimated the Congress, with a vote share of 52% vs and 27% for the Congress. New to Gujarat, the AAP did rather well too, scoring 13% of the vote. The BJP however, dominated. This, at the 8-year mark for the national government.
In contrast, the previous Congress government, in power from 2004-2014 had its 8-year point in 2012. That was the year of the infamous Commonwealth Games and the associated scam, ultimately the Congress’ nemesis. People were on the streets, upset with the party in power.
Today, people are making the party in power for eight-years win election after election. Sure, the BJP doesn’t win everything. That tells you that democracy is still alive in the country. It also shows that the BJP must work for every victory.
And the BJP does work, and mostly it does win. Globally, amongst democratic countries with significant population, currently no political party anywhere has a success rate and popularity as that of the BJP.
We are quick to point out concerns that arise out of this concentration of power. There’s a fair amount of criticism of the government as well. However, genuine as these concerns and criticisms might be, it must also be acknowledged that the BJP is doing some things extremely right.
In the age of social media, where the tide can turn against you quickly, the BJP maintains its hold on many people in a super diverse country like India. Sure, not everyone backs it, but enough do to get what matters – electoral victories, repeatedly, fair and square.
In the noise of what it is doing wrong, we often fail to ask this: What is the BJP doing right?
Here are six things that the BJP does extremely well (and from which we can learn to succeed in our own life):
- True Passion – they say the results are different when you do something with full passion. Its true with the BJP. Seldom has one seen a leadership so passionate about winning elections and governance. What is remarkable is that the passion remains even after so many years of success, when smugness and a lack of drive is bound to set in. Not for the BJP. Lesson: In life, never settle or get addicted to your comfort zone.
- Relentless Work – For every election, there are still hundreds of rallies done, often in inclement weather across India’s hinterland. The more senior you are in the BJP, the more you must work, not the other way around. The BJP machine works 24X7, and continues to do so after being in power for so long. Lesson: There’s no getting around hard work in life, no matter how gifted, talented or already successful you are.
- Simple messaging, extraordinary execution – Swacch Bharat (toilet connections), Ujjwala (LPG), Har Ghar Jal (water connection), these are just a few examples of simple to understand schemes but that can make a remarkable difference to a person’s life. Imagine getting a toilet, LPG connection and water connection for the first time in your life. But announcements is easy. What’s difficult is the execution. There have been literally millions of beneficiaries of these schemes as the schemes were executed well. There’s a reason the government and the PM has fans. Lesson: In life, keep simple goals, and execute them well.
- Understanding Indian psychology – the BJP puts the voter first and does not judge the voter’s thinking. It understands the average Indian’s psychology better than any consumer marketing brand or media house. Whether it is a desire for national pride, restoring Hindu culture, love for the home-grown and the vernacular, the party knows what Indians think, and more importantly, what Indians feel. That they continue to do so and have an ear to the ground despite being in power for so long is astonishing. No other party has come close to capturing people’s imagination like the BJP. Lesson: Understand your audience, customers, or in this case, voters – and you will go a long way.
- Cutting out desire for elitist approval – All of us Indians have a complex due to our suppressed colonial past. Hence, we admire English, the anglicized and those associated with more sophisticated, Western values. Many people value praise in English more than praise in Hindi, for instance. The BJP had no such qualms from the start. Sure, they do sometimes highlight any major Western achievement (a big media house/ global organization/ world leader/ global CEO praising India, for instance). However, they do not actively seek validation from the elite-anglicized Indian set. The elite Indian set goes hoarse criticizing the BJP, while the BJP keeps its head down and does the work to do what matters – win voters’ trust, and then their votes. Lesson: Don’t look for elitist validation, focus on what and who matters.
- Vision for India – however lofty and improbable it may sound, it sure does help when a leader has a vision for India – to be one of the prominent powers, major economies, and prosperous nations of the world. The government’s vision is something people like. Lesson: In life, or for a country, some vision, even if improbable and difficult to achieve is still better than no vision.
The BJP hasn’t won elections repeatedly as a fluke. Nor is it due to one oversimplified reason like ideology. It takes a lot more to get such wide support across India – from Tripura to Gujarat. From a street owner to a professor to a business owner. fFom a young college student voter to a retired senior citizen. The BJP has, does and continues to work hard to keep its support amongst the people of India. And it is time we acknowledge and even learn, from currently the most successful political party on earth!