New Delhi
The BJP leadership has been internally assessing recent political developments and the lessons emerging from them, with a senior party leader saying the government is conscious of both the areas where it could have acted differently and the need to recalibrate its political approach ahead of the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
Speaking off the record, the senior BJP leader acknowledged that, in hindsight, the controversy involving exam paper leak could have been handled differently and that resignation of former education minister Dharmendra Pradhan could perhaps have been sought earlier.
However, the leader said the initial decision was guided by the consideration that the functioning of a democratically elected government should not be dictated by street mobilisation.
The calculation changed subsequently, the leader said, as the continuation of the CJP protest created a strong possibility of the agitation eventually ending in a violent confrontation. The government ultimately assessed that accepting Pradhan’s resignation was preferable to allowing the situation to continue and potentially escalate.
The leader said it would be a mistake for the Opposition or other political observers to assume that the BJP leadership is unaware of the mistakes that have occurred or of the alternative decisions that could have been taken.
According to him, the party examines such developments internally and draws lessons from them, although corrective measures are not necessarily announced immediately.
The ability to learn from mistakes and subsequently introduce corrective measures, the leader said, was one of the BJP’s strengths. He maintained that the party does not necessarily respond to every political setback immediately or prematurely, but that remedial measures would become visible when the leadership believes the time is appropriate.
On the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, the leader expressed confidence that the BJP would return to power and said there was confidence within the top leadership that the party would improve upon its 2024 performance of 240 seats.
He attributed this assessment to the government’s record of work and the belief that voters recognise the delivery of several of the promises on which the BJP first sought a mandate in 2014.
At the same time, the leader acknowledged that it would be incorrect to say that there is no anti-incumbency after more than 12 years of the BJP-led government. He described this as a natural feature of electoral politics, saying voters who have seen a government deliver on its earlier promises eventually begin looking for new areas of progress.
The leader contrasted the political environment of 2014 with the situation today. When the BJP first came to power, issues such as roads, electricity, financial inclusion and digital payments were among the challenges before the country. The government subsequently worked on these areas, including through initiatives such as UPI, Jan Dhan and direct benefit transfers, and the BJP was rewarded by voters in 2019 and 2024.
The challenge now, according to the leader, is to communicate more forcefully what the government has achieved and what it is currently doing. He stressed that the issue was not a lack of work but the need to ensure that the government’s record and ongoing work were communicated more effectively to the electorate.
The leader also said the BJP has taken note of a perception among sections of the forward communities that the government has become excessively focused on non-backward communities at their expense. According to him, the party has understood that this sentiment exists and is working to address it. He indicated that changes aimed at addressing the perception would become visible.
The expected Cabinet reshuffle is likely to be one of the indicators of this broader political recalibration. The leader described the forthcoming exercise as potentially “very significant”, rather than merely cosmetic.
Another factor being considered by the BJP is the changing composition of the electorate. The leader pointed out that by the 2029 election, 15 years will have passed since the Congress-led government was in power at the Centre. A significant number of voters who were children in 2014 will be voting for the first time or will have little direct political memory of the Congress-led period.
This, according to the leader, is something the BJP is conscious of as it prepares for the next Lok Sabha election. The party’s electoral proposition will increasingly have to be based on its own record in government and its ability to offer voters a new set of positive outcomes, rather than relying primarily on comparisons with the pre-2014 period.
The leader’s assessment was that individual controversies and sporadic political developments could generate temporary negative feedback, but would not necessarily determine the long-term electoral outcome. The BJP’s focus, he said, is therefore on learning from recent developments, addressing emerging political concerns and presenting its record and future agenda more effectively before the electorate.
