Despite winning fewer seats this year than it did in 2019 and falling well short of its 400-seat target, everything “worked according to plan” for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), one of its state spokespersons, Gregory Shullai, said today.
The target of 400, which appeared brash to some, was necessary to show the public that the party was serious about returning to power, Shullai claimed.
“The people would see the brimming confidence the party had and its desire to come to power again,” he said. “There was a party that the people could place their faith in, that was the message the people got from this slogan. Does any party need 400 to win Parliament? No, but that’s the strategy and the day this was announced to the people the people began to see the point in backing the party once again.”
After 10 years in absolute control, the BJP has now fallen short of a majority in Parliament and will have to rely on its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners to get it over the line.
“It is good that the NDA is back (even if it is with a reduced number than it previously boasted of) because wherever the NDA has ruled there has been definite progress and this cannot be denied even by its most vociferous critics,” Shullai maintained.
But then why could the saffron party not win a majority this time? Because nothing is superior to the voter, Shullai said. “Politics for the BJP is not a finished and impersonal matter but a passionate quest for gaining the confidence of the people, an unceasing series of courageous statements and claims. Parliament belongs to the people…the people made it and they have put the party they believe in to govern the country once more. Every member elected to Parliament is, in the final analysis, a servant of the people. And this is what this verdict 2024 has made abundantly clear.”
