Analysing the Rise of Saffron Politics in India with Special Reference to Seventeenth Lok Sabha Elections

Abstract

Strength of the Central government depends on a clear majority in the lower house of the Parliament. With each passing year, the national reach of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has grown, while the reach of the Congress has shrunk. The BJP's gains have largely come at the expense of the Congress; whereas the latter ran thirteen states prior to the last general election (2014), today it governs in just three (also as a coalition partner in Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu). Riding on a massive saffron surge sweeping through most parts of India, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government became the only non-Congress government to return to power in Indian political history. Altogether, the seat and vote gains mark a new high in India's history of saffron politics. The lion’s share of the credit for the BJP’s resurgence belongs to Modi, who remains the most popular politician in India. This paper is an attempt to analyse the major factors in the 2019 Lok Sabha election that dominated in the favour of BJP