The Bharatiya Janata Party in its present form came into existence on 6 April 1980. The BJP, which won only two seats in the 1984 Lok Sabha elections, is strong today with a majority on its own.
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| The party's mouthpiece is 'Kamal Sandesh' which is a fortnightly magazine. The election symbol of the BJP, which is moving forward on Hindu nationalism, is 'Kamal'. |
JP Foundation Day: On 6 April 1980, the BJP was founded by people from Jana Sangh under the chairmanship of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Which is currently celebrating its 41st Foundation Day. Vajpayee and former Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani together increased the party from two seats in 1984 to 182 seats in 1998.
Thousands of delegates gathered at the two-day national convention at Ferozeshah Kotla Maidan in Delhi on 5-6 April 1980, and on 6 April a new political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was announced. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was elected its first president. While Advani was given the responsibility of General Secretary along with Sikandar Bakht and Surajbhan.
The BJP went ahead by turning Hindutva and Ram Janmabhoomi and won an absolute majority by winning 282 seats on its own in the year 2014. Which was led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In 2019, its seats crossed the 300 marks.
Advani has written in his autobiography 'Mera Desh, Mera Jeevan' (Prabhat Prakashan) on coming into existence of BJP. In the 'Lotus Blossom, Birth of Bharatiya Janata Party' chapter, Advani describes how the Jana Sangh was broken and the BJP came into being.
After winning only two seats in the 1984 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP moved ahead on the issue of Hindutva. By making Ram Janmabhoomi an agenda, the pair of Vajpayee and Advani brought the BJP into mainstream politics. In 1989, BJP won 85 Lok Sabha seats, then in 1991, it won 120 seats. Under the leadership of Vajpayee, the BJP gave the country the first permanent coalition government in 1998.
When Amit Shah was BJP President, he started a campaign to make BJP the largest political party in the world. Today BJP claims to be 18 crore members.
Bharatiya Janata Party | |
|---|---|
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| Abbreviation | BJP |
| President | Jagat Prakash Nadda |
| General Secretary | B. L. Santhosh |
| Praesidium | National Executive |
| Parliamentary Chairperson | Narendra Modi (Prime Minister) |
| Lok Sabha leader | Narendra Modi (Prime Minister) |
| Rajya Sabha leader | Thawar Chand Gehlot (Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment) |
| Treasurer | Rajesh Agarwal |
| Founder |
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| Founded | 6 April 1980 |
| Split from | Janata Party |
| Preceded by |
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| Headquarters | 6-A, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg, New Delhi-110002 |
| Newspaper | Kamal Sandesh |
| Think tank | Public Policy Research Centre |
| Student wing | Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (unofficial) |
| Youth wing | Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha |
| Women's wing | BJP Mahila Morcha |
| Labour wing | Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh |
| Peasant's wing | BJP Kisan Morcha |
| Membership | 180 million (2019) |
| Ideology | Hindutva Integral humanism Conservatism Social conservatism Neoliberalism Right-wing populism |
| Political position | Right-wing |
| International affiliation |
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| Colours | Saffron |
| Slogan | The Party with a Difference |
| ECI Status | National Party |
| Alliance |
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| Seats in Lok Sabha | 300 / 543 (currently 536 members and 7 vacancies) |
| Seats in Rajya Sabha | 95 / 245 (currently 236 members and 9 vacancies) |