BJP's hopes for 2024 soar as outgoing year ends on happy note
BJP has generally had more good years than bad since 2014 but few have still ended on a happier note for the party than 2023, as it steps into the new year of national elections, full of hope of retaining power at the Centre under Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a third straight term. The party's big victory in the recent state polls has only reaffirmed its strong position and, its leaders believe, a number of upcoming developments will further boost its prospects.
The BJP and RSS affiliates have already succeeded in building a fervour around the consecration of Lord Ram's idol in Ayodhya on January 22 and there is a view that the Uniform Civil Code can be rolled out in a state or two before the polls to make the electoral turf still more favourable for the ruling party.
Following the party's sweep of assembly elections in three Hindi heartland states against the odds, the BJP's brain trust is now busy game-planning as to how it can improve on its 2019 Lok Sabha election tally of 303 seats.
It is not unusual these days to find its senior leaders talking about the possibility of a total nearer to 350 than 300 in 2024, an optimism fuelled not in the least by an opposition alliance which has come out with no agenda, joint programme or a visible leadership since its members named their grouping INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) way back in July.
It was also a year when brand Modi, strong as it has always been, held sway like never before in state elections, rooting out the Congress from entire north India save for tiny Himachal Pradesh and cutting down to size the few remaining regional satraps of the BJP.
