The Bharatiya Janata Party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had comfortably secured the majority to form the government at the centre in 2014. BJP and PM Modi’s win in 2014 was historic and the decisive mandate made it clear that the people really wanted to see PM Modi in power. Four of the five year term of the BJP government has now come to an end. There has been multi-faceted growth in India in these four years. Even though the country is progressing at a never seen before pace and there is a definite increase in how Indians and outsiders look at India today, something seems to be lacking. The urgency of the voters to get rid of Congress in 2014 had played an active part in BJP’s landslide win. That scenario has changed today. People and even the BJP are appearing complacent today. Although, the recently held state elections have mostly went in the favour of BJP the 2019 Lok Sabha elections will be a different game altogether. BJP cannot afford to show laxity today, especially since there are talks of a united opposition doing the rounds in the political circles today and the country has seen desperate opposition parties putting together rag-tag coalition to stop the juggernaut of the BJP in various by-polls.
From Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav’s SP-BSP in Uttar Pradesh to Lalu Yadav’s RJD in Bihar, leaders who have faced losses at the hands of BJP in state and Lok Sabha are trying to join hands. Congress too has been trying to get a piece of the united opposition game which has been going on for quite some time now. There definitely are visible differences between the united opposition leaders but there is also the chance that the collective fear against PM Modi led BJP could drive them towards joining hands for the polls to be held in 2019.
BJP as a party should remain active in the public sphere and keep doing activities which resonate with the public on ground levels. Their focus should be on settling the Ram Janmbhoomi Temple issue before the elections. BJP should keep pushing forward for early judgment from the Supreme Court with no further delays in the hearings if it wants to fulfill its election promise. The development of Hindu pilgrimages and a nationwide religious tourism circuit starting from Ayodhya would give them an added advantage. The Ram Janmbhoomi issue has been raging on for quite long now and political parties have taken benefit from stretching the matter for as long as possible. Congress, very recently, tried to put a stay on the hearings of the Ayodhya Temple case. Successful completion of the issue will repose the faith of the people in BJP and its promises.
BJP could try to bring about big policies to give further boost to the economy. The government could think of something along the lines of Demonetisation or creation of Special Economic Zones in all states of the country to boost manufacturing and trade. One step that Modi government could push for is bringing the petroleum products within the purview of GST. Granting of special status to states like Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in the south could also improve chances of BJP’s win from these states. TDP is likely to come back again to BJPs side following the grant of special status while Tamil Nadu is a swing state at the moment and BJP could gain massively from these decisions. Implementation of Uniform Civil Code throughout India could also do the trick for BJP, UCC is necessary in a diverse country like India to provide equal treatment to the citizens.
After the surgical strikes, the government has somewhat softened its stance towards Pakistan. It should switch back to offensive mode and suspend direct talks with Pakistan until it takes substantial action against the terror groups operating from its soil. Ceasefire violations from the Pakistani side of the border have been going on for the longest possible time in Kashmir and other areas, a decisive surgical strike could be carried out once again to put an end to the terrorism in Pakistan. This message will go on to prove that BJP has not softened its stance on terrorism and is not looking forward to appeasement politics on the international level as was done by Congress in UPA II regime.
There are many ongoing cases against prominent Congress leaders like, Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi’s National Herald case or P. Chidambaram’s 2G spectrum case and Aircel-Maxis case. BJP should push for expediting the judicial process in these cases and make sure that the guilty get their comeuppance in a timely manner, preferably before the 2019 elections . It will clear the clouds over what BJP has been accusing the Congress leaders of doing over the years. The corrupt Congress leaders will be face public humiliation and it will further embolden the BJP workers who have fought for a corruption free India. The party needs to keep pushing forward just like it did in the Lalu Yadav fodder scam case.
The party will benefit immensely if the economic offenders like Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi could be brought back to India before the elections in 2019. Kingfisher and Punjab National Bank incidents had its seeds in the Congress led UPA II regime but BJP could send a strong message by doing a decisive crackdown on them. Bringing them to justice would send a strong message that the BJP is not going to let the economic offenders relax under its rule. Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill has enabled the government to get hold of their properties inside and out of the country but their arrest and deportation will give the symbolic final stamp of crackdown. Public faith on BJP will be reinforced and it will show in the elections of 2019.
