Compared to the Congress, the BJP takes a more aggressive and nationalistic position on defence policy and terrorism. The Vajpayee-led NDA government carried out nuclear weapons tests, and enacted the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which later came under heavy criticism. It also deployed troops to evict infiltrators from Kargil, and supported the United States' War on Terror. Although previous Congress governments developed the capability for a nuclear weapons test, the Vajpayee government broke with India's historical strategy of avoiding it and authorised Pokhran-II, a series of five nuclear tests in 1998. The tests came soon after Pakistan tested a medium-range ballistic missile.
Defence and counterterrorism
Bharatiya Janata Party
Bharatiya Janata Party | Defence and counterterrorism
NDA government carried out nuclear weapons tests, and enacted the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which later came under heavy criticism. It also deployed troops to evict infiltrators from Kargil, and supported the United States' War on Terror. The BJP takes a more aggressive and nationalistic position on defence policy and terrorism. The Vajpayee-led NDA government carried out nuclear weapons tests, and enacted the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which later came under heavy criticism. It took a more aggressive and nationalistic position on defence policy and terrorism. The Vajpayee-led NDA government carried out nuclear weapons tests, and enacted the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which later came under heavy criticism. It also deployed troops to evict infiltrators from Kargil, and supported the United States' War on Terror. Compared to the Congress, the BJP takes a more aggressive and nationalistic position on defence policy and terrorism
who is the leader of ruling party in india
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Narendra Modi
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which political party does he currently belong to?
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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
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when was this party established?
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1980
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mention a few of their social policies.
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It is committed to Hindutva, an ideology articulated by Indian independence activist Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
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what are some of their economic policies?
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Introduced significant deregulation and privatisation of government owned enterprises. It also introduced tariff-reducing measures. These reforms built off of the initial economic liberalisation
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what are some of the steps this party has taken to safeguard the country from terrorism?
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Compared to the Congress, the BJP takes a more aggressive and nationalistic position on defence policy and terrorism. The Vajpayee-led NDA government carried out nuclear weapons tests, and enacted the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which later came under heavy criticism. It also deployed troops to evict infiltrators from Kargil, and supported the United States' War on Terror. Although previous Congress governments developed the capability for a nuclear weapons test, the Vajpayee government broke with India's historical strategy of avoiding it and authorised Pokhran-II, a series of five nuclear tests in 1998. The tests came soon after Pakistan tested a medium-range ballistic missile.
Bharatiya Janata Party | Defence and counterterrorism
They were seen as an attempt to display India's military prowess to the world, and a reflection of anti-Pakistan sentiment within the BJP. The Vajpayee government ordered the Indian armed forces to expel the Pakistani soldiers occupying Kashmir territory, later known as the Kargil War. Although the government was later criticised for the intelligence failures that did not detect Pakistani presence, it was successful in ousting them from the previously Indian-controlled territory. The Vajpayee administration also offered political support to the US War on Terror, in the hope of better addressing India's issues with terrorism and insurgency in Kashmir. This led to closer defence ties with the US, including negotiations for the sale of weapons.
Bharatiya Janata Party | Defence and counterterrorism
The tenure of the NDA saw an unprecedented influx of foreign companies in India. This was criticised by the left parties and the BJP's affiliates (the RSS and the Swadeshi Jagran Manch). The communist parties said that the BJP was attempting to appease the World Bank and the United States government through its neoliberal policies. Similarly, the RSS stated that the BJP was not being true to its "swadeshi" ideology. The two NDA governments in the period 1998–2004 introduced significant deregulation and privatisation of government owned enterprises. It also introduced tariff-reducing measures. These reforms built off of the initial economic liberalisation introduced by the P.
Bharatiya Janata Party | Economic policies
The BJP's economic policy has changed considerably since its founding. There is a significant range of economic ideologies within the party. In the 1980s, like the Jana Sangh, it reflected the thinking of the RSS and its affiliates. It supported "swadeshi" (the promotion of indigenous industries and products) and a protectionist export policy. However, it supported internal economic liberalisation, and opposed the state-driven industrialisation favoured by the Congress. During the 1996 elections, the BJP shifted its stance away from protectionism and towards globalisation; its election manifesto recommended increasing foreign investment in priority sectors, while restricting it in others. When the party was in power in 1998, it shifted its policy even further in favour of globalisation.
Bharatiya Janata Party | Economic policies
The BJP supports a uniform civil code, which would apply a common set of personal laws to every citizen regardless of their personal religion, replacing the existing laws which vary by religious community. According to historian Yogendra Malik, this ignores the differential procedures required to protect the cultural identity of the Muslim minority. The BJP favours the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution of India, which grants a greater degree of autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir in recognition of the unusual circumstances surrounding its accession to the Indian Union.
Bharatiya Janata Party | Social policies and Hindutva
The historical stance of the BJP towards foreign policy, like the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, was based on an aggressive Hindu nationalism combined with economic protectionism. The Bharatiya Jana Sangh was founded with the explicit aim of reversing the partition of India; as a result, its official position was that the existence of Pakistan was illegitimate. This antagonism toward Pakistan remains a significant influence on the BJP's ideology. During the Cold War, the party and its affiliates strongly opposed India's long standing policy of non-alignment, and instead advocated closeness to the United States. The Vajpayee government's foreign policy in many ways represented a radical shift from BJP orthodoxy, while maintaining some aspects of it.
Bharatiya Janata Party | Foreign policy
V. Narasimha Rao-led Congress government in the early 1990s. India's GDP growth increased substantially during the tenure of the NDA. The 2004 campaign slogan India Shining was based on the party's belief that the free market would bring prosperity to all sectors of society. After its unexpected defeat, commentators said that it was punished for neglecting the needs of the poor and focusing too much on its corporate allies.
Bharatiya Janata Party | Economic policies
The "involvement of fundamentalists and terrorists" was behind the incident. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) put forward allegations that NDF maintains links with Pakistan's ISI. The Bharatiya Janata Party sought an inquiry into NDF-ISI links. The Indian National Congress (who are politically opposed to the BJP) raised doubts about the true nature of their activities. On 31 October 2006, the Congress launched a campaign against terrorism in Malappuram district in Kerala, simultaneously taking on parties and organisations such as the IUML, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the NDF, and the People's Democratic Party (PDP).
National Development Front | Criticism
The Janata government had lesser success in achieving economic reforms. It launched the Sixth Five-Year Plan, aiming to boost agricultural production and rural industries. Seeking to promote economic self-reliance and indigenous industries, the government required multi-national corporations to go into partnership with Indian corporations. The policy proved controversial, diminishing foreign investment and led to the high-profile exit of corporations such as Coca-Cola and IBM from India. But the government was unable to address the issues of resurging inflation, fuel shortages, unemployment and poverty. The legalisation of strikes and re-empowerment of trade unions affected business efficiency and economic production.
Janata Party | Economic policy
On the subject, Ganapathy says, "Our weapons are mainly country-made. All the modern weapons we have are mainly seized from the government armed forces when we attack them." The CPI (Maoist)'s General Secretary says that they keep on appealing to the "lower-level personnel" in the paramilitary and police forces not to attack them, but rather "join hands with the masses" and "consciously" point their guns towards whom the Maoists view as "real enemies." They further claims that "only when the government forces come to attack us [Maoists] carrying guns do we attack them in self-defence." In Jharkhand, the police have also clutched posters from various places which read, "Policemen keep away from the green hunt and try to be friends of poor.
Communist Party of India (Maoist) | Military strategies and tactics
Jaswant Singh was denied nomination from Barmer constituency so he decided instead to contest the seat as an independent. The BJP released its manifesto on 7 April 2014. The party promised to set up a Price Stabilization Fund and to evolve a single 'National Agriculture Market' to check price rise and go for e-Governance, policy-driven governance and simplification of the tax regime to prevent corruption. It wanted to encourage labour-intensive manufacturing, focus on traditional employment bases of agriculture, the upgrade of infrastructure and housing and self-employment opportunities for job creation. Harnessing satellite technology; setting up National Optical-Fibre Network up to the village level; Diamond Quadrilateral project – of High Speed Train network were among several other things that the party promised.
2014 Indian general election | Bharatiya Janata Party
In the fields of taxation and state expenditure, it believed in thrift and called that taxation should suffice for carrying on of administration and social and economic activities taken upon by the state but it should not depress capital formation and private investment. The government should also desist from running abnormally large deficits or taking foreign loans that are beyond the capacity of the country to repay. In particular, it resisted unnecessary expansion of the bureaucracy.
Swatantra Party | Fundamental principles
The BJP's Bengali booklet released in January 2020 claimed that the National Register of Citizens will be implemented to identify the undocumented migrants, but Hindus, Sikhs and other non-Muslims will be "shielded" by the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Bharatiya Janata Party, West Bengal | Post 2020
The BJP has slightly moderated its stance after the NDA was formed in 1998, due to the presence of parties with a broader set of ideologies. The BJP's Hindutva ideology has been reflected in many of its government policies. It supports the construction of the Ram Temple at the disputed site of the Babri Mosque. This issue was its major poll plank in the 1991 general elections. However, the demolition of the mosque during a BJP rally in 1992 resulted in a backlash against it, leading to a decline of the temple's prominence in its agenda. The education policy of the NDA government reorganised the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and tasked it with extensively revising the textbooks used in Indian schools.
Bharatiya Janata Party | Social policies and Hindutva
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed "anguish and grief" at the loss of life, and vowed that the culprits would be caught. India's foreign ministry also promised to issue visas for Pakistani relatives of those killed or injured in the blasts. Indian journalist Siddharth Varadarajan argued that the peace process should stay on track and that any wavering would be tantamount to surrendering to terrorism. The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party condemned the attacks and petitioned the ruling Indian National Congress to ask Pakistan to comply with its 2004 promise to crack down on cross-border terrorism. The party also argued for a harsher anti-terror bill to take a "zero tolerance" approach to terrorism in India.
2007 Samjhauta Express bombings | India
Under Rajiv Gandhi, small steps were taken to liberalize the economy. In 1991, the new Congress-party government, led by P. V. Narasimha Rao, initiated reforms to avert the impending 1991 economic crisis. The reforms progressed furthest in opening up areas to foreign investment, reforming capital markets, deregulating domestic business, and reforming the trade regime. The goals of Rao's government were to reduce the fiscal deficit, privatize the public sector, and increase investment in infrastructure. Trade reforms and changes in the regulation of foreign direct investment were introduced in order to open India to foreign trade while stabilising external loans. Rao chose Manmohan Singh for the job.
Indian National Congress | Economic policy
Since 1991, when India undertook a series of reforms in the face of a balance-of-payments crisis, the nation has been governed by a broad agreement about its economy. Starting in 2012, India entered a period of more anaemic growth, with growth slowing down to 4.4%. Other economic problems also became apparent: a plunging Indian rupee, a persistent high current account deficit and slow industrial growth. Hit by the US Federal Reserve's decision to taper quantitative easing, foreign investors had been rapidly pulling out money from India though this has now reversed with the Stock market at near all-time high and the current account deficit narrowing substantially.
Bharatiya Janata Party campaign for the 2014 Indian general election | Economy
The Desai government ended India's support for the guerrillas loyal to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding leader of Bangladesh, who had been assassinated in 1975 by military officers and replaced by a military regime that sought to distance itself from India. India also sought to improve relations with the United States, which had been strained due to the latter's support for Pakistan during the 1971 war and India's subsequent proximity with the Soviet Union. The Janata government announced its desire to achieve "genuine" non-alignment in the Cold War, which had been the long-standing national policy. In 1978, Jimmy Carter became the first U.S.
Janata Party | Foreign policy
Haque felt that Indians will "strongly resist" any attempt of the government to drop the Article 370 which bestows a special status on the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Citing the fact that the Bharatiya Janata Party had secured 31% of the votes in the 2014 general election (which means 69% people voted for other parties), Haque claimed the party had no right to modify the constitution. About BJP, Haque has written that if even though the party had promised to create more employment after coming to power, it had failed to do so. He also criticised the central government for attempting to create a cashless economy.
Mohammad Asrarul Haque | Right wing politics
They were not only supported by the state but were also covered up for by the state." He was also critical of the official Bharatiya Janata Party government investigation and report into the attacks by B. K. Somasekhara, given that he said there was photographic and video evidence of police misconduct which the government commission had not identified.
M. F. Saldanha | Introduction
The terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament building on 13 December 2001, conducted by Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists led to the death of a dozen people (5 terrorists, 6 police and 1 civilian) and the 2001-2002 India-Pakistan standoff. In response to these attacks and an escalation in terrorist attacks in other parts of India, the NDA government promulgated the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Although a tougher anti-terrorism law than Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, POTA was criticised as compromising civil liberties and encouraging profiling of the Indian Muslim community. As the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Parliament, was controlled by opposition parties, the Vajpayee government called a historic joint session of both houses of the Indian Parliament in order to enact POTA into law.
Premiership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee | Terrorism
The Congress accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to increase its vote banks by attacking minorities. Congress politician Sharad Pawar accused the BJP of trying to divide people on the basis of religion. The Inter Press Service reported that the Christians are being used as a political scapegoat for India's national elections. The former President of the AIADMK and Chief minister of Tamil Nadu, J Jayalaitha called for the dismissal of the Bharatiya Janata Party's rule in Gujarat. She also went on to say that Gujarat attacks have become a black mark to the fair name of the country.
1998 attacks on Christians in southeastern Gujarat | Political response
Economic issues like poverty, unemployment, development are main issues that influence politics. "Garibi Hatao" (eradicate poverty) has been a slogan of the Indian National Congress for a long time. The well known Bharatiya Janata Party encourages a free market economy. The more popular slogan in this field is "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas" (Cooperation with all, progress of all). The Communist Party of India (Marxist) vehemently supports left-wing politics like land-for-all, right to work and strongly opposes neoliberal policies such as globalisation, capitalism and privatisation.
Politics of India | Economic problems
She was barred from contesting any election for the next six years. Economic problems, corruption and the conviction of Gandhi led to widespread protests against the Congress (R) government, which responded by imposing a State of Emergency. The rationale was that of preserving national security. However, the government introduced press censorship, postponed elections and banned strikes and rallies. Opposition leaders such as Jivatram Kripalani, Jayaprakash Narayan, Chandra Shekhar, Biju Patnaik, , Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L. K. Advani, Raj Narain, Satyendra Narayan Sinha, Ramnandan Mishra and Morarji Desai were imprisoned, along with thousands of other political activists. When the State of Emergency was lifted and new elections called in 1977, opposition political parties such as the Congress (O), Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Bharatiya Lok Dal as well as defectors from the Congress (R) joined to form the Janata party, which won a sweeping majority in the Indian Parliament.
Janata Party | Introduction
However, the coalition ruptured in May 1999 when the leader of AIADMK, Jayalalitha, withdrew her support, and fresh elections were held again. On 13 October 1999, the NDA, without the AIADMK, won 303 seats in parliament and thus an outright majority. The BJP had its highest ever tally of 183. Vajpayee became Prime Minister for the third time; Advani became Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister. This NDA government lasted its full term of five years. Its policy agenda included a more aggressive stance on defence and terror as well as neo-liberal economic policies. In 2001, Bangaru Laxman, then the BJP president, was filmed accepting a bribe of to recommend the purchase of hand-held thermal imagers for the Indian Army to the Defence Ministry, in a sting operation by "Tehelka" journalists.
Bharatiya Janata Party | NDA government (1998–2004)
As the threat of war between two nuclear capable countries and the consequent possibility of a nuclear exchange loomed large, international diplomatic mediation focused on defusing the situation. In October 2002, both India and Pakistan announced that they would withdraw their troops from the border. The Vajpayee administration brought in the Prevention of Terrorism Act in 2002. The act was aimed at curbing terrorist threats by strengthening powers of government authorities to investigate and act against suspects. It was passed in a joint session of the parliament, amidst concerns that the law would be misused. Another political disaster hit his government between December 2001 and March 2002: the VHP held the Government hostage in a major standoff in Ayodhya over the Ram temple.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee | 2001 attack on Parliament
The Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 (POTA) was an Act passed by the Parliament of India in 2002, with the objective of strengthening anti-terrorism operations. The Act was enacted due to several terrorist attacks that were being carried out in India and especially in response to the attack on the Parliament. The Act replaced the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO) of 2001 and the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) (1985–95), and was supported by the governing National Democratic Alliance. The Act was repealed in 2004 by the United Progressive Alliance coalition. The bill was defeated in the Rajya Sabha (the upper house) by a 113-98 vote, but was passed in a joint session (425 Ayes and 296 Nos), as the Lok Sabha (lower house) has more seats.
Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 | Introduction
In India, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Narendra Modi, represent conservative politics. The BJP is the largest right-wing conservative party in the world. It promotes cultural nationalism, Hindu Nationalism, an aggressive foreign policy against Pakistan and a conservative social and fiscal policy.
Conservatism | India
Similarly, he dealt with the kidnapping of some foreign tourists by a terrorist group called "Al Faran" in Kashmir in 1995 effectively. Although he could not secure the release of the hostages, his policies ensured that the terrorists demands were not conceded to, and that the action of the terrorists was condemned internationally, including Pakistan. Rao also made diplomatic overtures to Western Europe, the United States, and China. He decided in 1992 to bring into the open India's relations with Israel, which had been kept covertly active for a few years during his tenure as a Foreign Minister, and permitted Israel to open an embassy in New Delhi.
P. V. Narasimha Rao | National security, foreign policy and crisis management
In 1989, the north of India saw an increase in orchestrated attacks on Muslims, and the BJP had further success in the local and state elections. The social anthropologist Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah concludes that the violence in Bhagalpur in 1989, Hashimpura in 1987 and in Moradabad 1980 were organised killings. According to Ram Puniyani, the Shiv Sena were victorious in the elections due to the violence in the 1990s, and the BJP in Gujarat after the 2002 violence. Gyan Prakash, however, cautions that the BJP's actions in Gujarat do not equate to the entirety of India, and it remains to be seen if the Hindutva movement has been successful in the deployment of this strategy nationwide.
Violence against Muslims in India | Role of political parties
On 25 June 1975, the President of India, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, accepted prime minister Indira Gandhi's recommendation to declare a state of national emergency. Indira argued that the political and civil disorder constituted a threat to national security. A state of emergency enabled the central government to issue executive decrees without requiring the consent of Parliament. Elections were postponed and public gatherings, rallies and strikes were banned. Curfews were imposed and police forces were empowered to make warrantless searches, seizures and arrests. Indira's government imposed "President's rule" in the states of Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, dismissing the governments controlled by opposition political parties.
Janata Party | Emergency
The "detection, deletion and deportation" of illegal migrants has been on the agenda of the BJP since 1996. In the 2016 assembly elections for the border state of Assam, the BJP leaders campaigned in the state promising voters that they would rid Assam of the Bangladeshis. Simultaneously, they also promised to protect Hindus who had fled religious persecution in Bangladesh. According to commentators, in the context of an effort to identify and deport illegal immigrants, the proposal to grant citizenship took a new meaning. Illegal migrants could be granted citizenship if they were non-Muslim, on the grounds that they were refugees; Muslims alone would be deported.
Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 | Bharatiya Janata Party activities
The GDP growth which was at 3.9% in October 1999, stood between 6.6%—9% and successfully privatised all state-owned corporations and state enterprises before completing his term. However, Aziz's strategy failed deal with underlying problems deeply in country's economy. The global financial crises in 2008 led the sharp dropped in country's economy while acute electricity shortage in the country revealed the incompetence by the Peoples Party's government, but also the failure of his government to developed the necessary energy infrastructure on time.
Shaukat Aziz | Economic policy
Despite the war, Vajpayee continued to display a willingness to engage Pakistan in dialogue. This was not well received among the BJP cadre, who criticised the government for being "weak". This faction of the BJP asserted itself at the post-Kargil Agra summit, preventing any significant deal from being reached.
Bharatiya Janata Party | Foreign policy
In its manifesto for the 2014 Indian general election, the BJP promised to provide a "natural home" for persecuted Hindu refugees. The year before the 2016 elections in Assam, the government legalised refugees belonging to religious minorities from Pakistan and Bangladesh, granting them long-term visas. Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals belonging to "minority communities" were exempted from the requirements of the "Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920" and the "Foreigners Act, 1946". Specifically mentioned were "Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Parsis and Buddhists," who had been "compelled to seek shelter in India due to religious persecution or fear of religious persecution". Eligibility for the exemption was made contingent on a migrant having arrived in India by 31 December 2014.
Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 | Bharatiya Janata Party activities
The economic package is nearly 10% of the GDP. He added that Special economic package was for labourers, farmers, honest tax payers, MSMEs and cottage industries Modi added that the five main pillars India stands on are – economy, infrastructure, governing systems, vibrant democracy and supply chain.
Indian government response to the COVID-19 pandemic | Communication and economic stimulus
Singh's government has been instrumental in strengthening anti-terror laws with amendments to Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). National Investigation Agency (NIA) was also created soon after the Nov 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, as need for a central agency to combat terrorism was realised. Also, Unique Identification Authority of India was established in February 2009, an agency responsible for implementing the envisioned Multipurpose National Identity Card with the objective of increasing national security and facilitating e-governance. Singh's administration initiated a massive reconstruction effort in Kashmir to stabilise the region but after some period of success, insurgent infiltration and terrorism in Kashmir has increased since 2009.
Manmohan Singh | Security and Home Affairs
The Vajpayee government expanded the process of economic liberalisation initiated by the P.V. Narasimha Rao government (1991–1996). His government initiated the privatisation of most state corporations, including the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. His government also began the establishment of special export processing zones, Information Technology and Industrial Parks across the country to bolster industrial production and exports. In its third term (1999–2004), his government launched the National Highway Development Project, with the first phase being the Golden Quadrilateral. In 2003, the government launched the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman (Honouring of Non-Resident Indians) and initiated plans to establish an Overseas citizenship of India to enable NRIs to invest and do business freely in India.
Premiership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee | Economic policy
The party promised to set up a Price Stabilisation Fund to check inflation, ensure fiscal discipline and pursue banking sector reforms to deal with the problem of rising bad loans. The manifesto said that a dedicated fund will be created for integrated development of Himalayan region. BJP promised to bring all states on board to implement GST. The manifesto promised launch of Diamond Quadrilateral project of high speed train network and it sought to develop freight and industrial corridors and boost development of coastal areas through 'Sagar Mala project.
Bharatiya Janata Party campaign for the 2014 Indian general election | Manifesto
Pranab Mukherjee, India's External Affairs Minister, condemned the "cowardly terrorists' attack" and added that "such acts of terror will not deter us from fulfilling our commitments to the government and people of Afghanistan." India also rushed a high-level emergency team of experts to review the situation. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, "the target is clearly the innocent citizens. Efforts to spread chaos and disturb peace will not be allowed to succeed at any cost. The government is determined to defeat nefarious designs of terrorist elements. The perpetrators of these heinous acts will be dealt with firmly. The security agencies are already working in this regard.
2008 bombing of Indian embassy in Kabul | India
The party supports a state-guaranteed minimum social safety net and state intervention in the economy within market economy bounds. During the 2015 election campaign, it proposed tax decrease to two personal tax rates (18% and 32%) and tax rebates related to the number of children in a family, as well as a reduction of the VAT rate (while keeping a variation between individual types of VAT rates). 18% and 32% tax rates were eventually implemented. Also: a continuation of privatization with the exclusion of several dozen state companies deemed to be of strategic importance for the country. PiS opposes cutting social welfare spending, and also proposed the introduction of a system of state-guaranteed housing loans.
Law and Justice | Economy
He blamed over burdensome local and central bureaucracies for blocking faster economic improvement and called for reducing the overall size of the bureaucracy and speeding up privatization of government owned assets. By 1995 only 19.2% of economy had been privatized. When in March 1994 opposition parties withdrew from parliament, Ochirbat publicly called for a protection of the rights of the minority parties and accused the ruling MPRP of exploiting the media to their advantage by limiting press coverage of parliament. He also supported reforms to election law to open elections to all parties in advance of parliamentary elections in 1996.
Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat | 1993 presidential election
The United Front government attempted a progressive budget that encouraged reforms, but the 1997 Asian financial crisis and political instability created economic stagnation. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)–Atal Bihari Vajpayee administration surprised many by continuing reforms, when it was at the helm of affairs of India for six years, from 1998–99 and from 1999–2004. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance Coalition began privatizing under-performing government-owned business including hotels, VSNL, Maruti Suzuki, and airports. The coalition also began reducing taxes, a fiscal policy aimed at reducing deficits and debts and increased initiatives for public works. Towards the end of 2011, the Congress-led UPA-2 Coalition Government initiated the introduction of 51% Foreign Direct Investment in retail sector.
Economic liberalisation in India | Later reforms
The official philosophy of the BJP is "Integral humanism," a philosophy first formulated by Deendayal Upadhyaya in 1965, who described it as advocating an "indigenous economic model that puts the human being at center stage." It is committed to Hindutva, an ideology articulated by Indian independence activist Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. According to the party, Hindutva is cultural nationalism favouring Indian culture over westernisation, thus it extends to all Indians regardless of religion. However, scholars and political analysts have called their Hindutva ideology an attempt to redefine India and recast it as a Hindu country to the exclusion of other religions, making it a Hindu nationalist party in a general sense.
Bharatiya Janata Party | Social policies and Hindutva
Eyewitnesses, including students injured in the attack, as well as opposition parties and left-wing organizations, accused the members of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) student wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) of orchestrating the attacks. The ABVP, a Hindu nationalist organization, initially denied any involvement and accused left-wing organisations of carrying out the attack. On 6 January, ABVP's joint secretary for Delhi, Anima Sonkar, admitted on television that two armed men seen in videos of the incident were members of ABVP. Although any one clear motive has not emerged, the attack has been described by some as a way to prevent students from raising their voice against a fee hike and the Citizenship Amendment Act.
2020 Jawaharlal Nehru University attack | Introduction
The first conservative party to espouse liberal economic ideals in India since independence was the Swatantra Party. It is a Classical Liberal party as its principles are based on individual freedom, market-based economy and limited government. It existed from 1959 to 1974. It was founded by C. Rajagopalachari in reaction to what he felt was the Jawaharlal Nehru-dominated Indian National Congress's increasingly socialist and statist outlook. Swatantra ("Freedom") stood for a market-based economy with the "Licence Raj" dismantled, although it opposed "laissez faire" policies. The party was thus favored by some traders and industrialists, but at the state-level its leadership was dominated by the traditional privileged classes such as "zamindars" (feudal landlords) and erstwhile princes.
Conservatism in India | Post Independence
Most of India's political organisations condemned the attack as barbaric and requested people to maintain law and order. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, its affiliates the Vishva Hindu Parishad and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) declared an India-wide protest and bandh on 8 July 2005. BJP president L.K. Advani called for the reinstatement of the Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act in the wake of the attack.
2005 Ram Janmabhoomi attack | Aftermath
In the 2004 general election, the NDA suffered an unexpected defeat, and for the next ten years the BJP was the principal opposition party. Long time Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi led it to a landslide victory in the 2014 general election. Since that election, Modi leads the NDA government as Prime Minister and , the BJP and its alliance governs 16 states.
Conservatism in India | Bharatiya Jana Sangh and Bharatiya Janata Party
In the spring of 2019, the party lauded the economic policies of the Modi government (BJP), stating that the centre had ushered in economic stability and made the country a "decisive player" in regional economics, and voiced support for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) which had been opposed by their rival the DMK.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | Economy
In the 2019 Indian general election, unemployment in India was an issue. Economic issues like poverty, unemployment, development are main issues that influence politics. Garibi Hatao (eradicate poverty) has been a slogan of the Indian National Congress for a long time. The well known Bharatiya Janata Party encourages a free market economy. The more popular slogan in this field is Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas (Cooperation with all, progress of all). The Communist Party of India (Marxist) vehemently supports left-wing politics like land-for-all, right to work and strongly opposes neoliberal policies such as globalisation, capitalism and privatisation.
Unemployment in India | Politics
A Cabinet Committee on Security meeting was held on Tuesday, 2 December, to discuss expanding the National Security Guards (NSG) to cities outside Delhi. The aim is to have permanent presence of NSG anti-terrorist squads in cities such as Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata, to avoid wasting precious time travelling from Delhi. All NSG commandos will now undergo a new module of training, to learn how to deal with future anti-siege operations, because the Taj terrorists were in a gun battle for 59 hours continuously. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, on an all party conference, declared that legal framework will be strengthened in the battle against terrorism and a federal anti-terrorist intelligence and investigation agency, like the FBI, will soon be set up to co-ordinate actions against terrorism.
Aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai attacks | Government of India
He has also argued for using greater economic linkages to improve India's troubled ties with Pakistan. As he stated in an opinion piece in April 2012, "For far too long, Delhi has viewed its regional policy through the prism of security without reference to the economic interests of the people. Delhi should instead focus on modernising the national security management and bring it in line with the demands of a globalising economy. Denying visas, limiting trade and blocking foreign investment from neighbours — the traditional and blunt instruments of Delhi’s national security strategy — are hopelessly out of date."
Raja Mohan | Introduction
Many social scientists feel that many of the stated acts of violence are institutionally supported, particularly by political parties and organizations connected to the Hindu nationalist volunteer organisation, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). In particular, scholars fault the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena for complicity in these incidents of violence and of using violence against Muslims as a part of a larger electoral strategy. For example, research by Raheel Dhattiwala and Michael Biggs has stated that killings are far higher in areas where the BJP faces stiff electoral opposition than in areas in which it is already strong.
Violence against Muslims in India | Role of political parties
, it is the country's largest political party in terms of representation in the Sansad and Vidhan Bhavans, and it is the world's largest party in terms of primary membership. The BJP is a right-wing party, with close ideological and organisational links to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. After the 1998 general election, the BJP-led coalition known as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) formed a government under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for a year. Following fresh elections, the NDA government, again headed by Vajpayee, lasted for a full term in office; this was the first non-Congress government to do so.
Conservatism in India | Bharatiya Jana Sangh and Bharatiya Janata Party
Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, many in the party have supported neoconservative policies with regard to the War on Terror, including the 2001 war in Afghanistan and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The George W. Bush administration took the position that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to unlawful combatants, while other prominent Republicans strongly oppose the use of enhanced interrogation techniques, which they view as torture. Republicans have frequently advocated for restricting foreign aid as a means of asserting the national security and immigration interests of the United States.
Republican Party (United States) | Foreign policy and national defense
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said that this was an attack on the heart of India. Home Minister P. Chidambaram left Delhi for Mumbai on the same night and visited the three blast sites, met the injured in the hospitals, and interacted with the family members of the dead. Local politician, Manohar Joshi of the Shiv Sena, urged the government to "take immediate steps and find out who are people behind the blasts." INC general secretary Rahul Gandhi remarked that it was impossible to stop every terror attack. He said that 99 per cent of terror attacks had been prevented in the country thanks to various measures, such as improved intelligence collection efforts.
2011 Mumbai bombings | Domestic
During the 2014 election campaign, Modi and the BJP pledged to revisit India's nuclear weapons doctrine, and in particular India's historical policy of no-first-use. The pressure to revise the doctrine came from a desire for assertiveness among Indian government and defence officials. Soon after being sworn in as Prime Minister, Modi said that no revision would take place in the immediate future. The election manifesto of the BJP had also promised to deal with illegal immigration into India in the Northeast, as well as to be more firm in its handling of insurgent groups. During the election campaign, Modi said that he would be willing to accommodate Hindu migrants who were being persecuted in Bangladesh, but those that came with "political objectives" would have to be sent back to Bangladesh.
Premiership of Narendra Modi | Defence policy
In a policy statement, Gillani stated that the "country's GDP growth rate will be 4% basically due to the enhanced agricultural production and the web of taxation has been increased". The tax collection in 2011 was more 27% comparing to 2010. An unsuccessful attempt was carried out by Gillani's government to privatise the mega-state corporations, particularly the power sector; major nationalised industries such as WAPDA, IESCo, TESCo, PEPCo were proposed by the finance ministry to privatise the power distribution companies. Major worker's strike were initiated by the central labour unions, and after receiving much criticism, his government halted the privatisation programme of energy sector, and nationalised the remaining power sector industries due to public pressure.
Yousaf Raza Gillani | Financial and economic policy
It also believed in giving citizens full freedom to educate their children as they wanted. It recognised the need for increasing food production and sought to do that by giving peasants full land rights and incentives for increasing production in agriculture. In industry, it sought to reduce state presence only to the minimum necessary to supplement private enterprise and in national services like the Railways. It sought to do away with controls on trade and commerce. However, it committed against unreasonable profits, prices, and dividends. It believed in placing equal emphasis on the development of capital goods industries, consumer goods industries, and rural and small industries.
Swatantra Party | Fundamental principles
Its policy also represented a significant change from the Nehruvian idealism of previous governments, opting instead for realism. His party criticised him for adopting a much more moderate stance with Pakistan. In 1998, he made a landmark visit to Pakistan, and inaugurated the Delhi–Lahore Bus service. Vajpayee signed the Lahore Declaration, which was an attempt to improve Indo-Pakistani relations that deteriorated after the 1998 nuclear tests. However, the presence of Pakistani soldiers and militants in the disputed Kashmir territory was discovered a few months later, causing the 1999 Kargil War. The war ended a couple of months later, with the expulsion of the infiltrators two months later, without any shift in the Line of Control that marked the "de facto" border between the two countries.
Bharatiya Janata Party | Foreign policy
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is one of the major political parties in India and is the main opposition party during the 15th Lok Sabha. It contested the 2014 parliamentary election along with their supportive parties, to form National Democratic Alliance with Narendra Modi as its Prime Ministerial candidate and party president Rajnath Singh as the chief-of-election of campaign. The important issues during the campaign included price hikes, corruption, the economy, national security, basic infrastructure such as roads and railways, and supplying basic needs such as electricity and water. The party promised a vibrant and participatory democracy, inclusive and sustainable development, quality of life, productive youth, a globally competitive economy, open and transparent government, and pro-active and pro-people governance in its manifesto.
Bharatiya Janata Party campaign for the 2014 Indian general election | Introduction
and allowing the unconstitutional practice of Triple Talaq to continue. Recently, Muslims have started abandoning Congress party in favor of other parties like Aam Adami Party (AAP) and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Musilmeen (AIMIM). In contrast, the Bharatiya Janata Party employs a more aggressively nationalistic expression. The BJP seeks to preserve and spread the culture of the Hindus, the majority population. It ties nationalism with the defence of India's borders and interests against archrivals China and Pakistan, with the defence of the majority's right to be a majority. Religious nationalist parties include the Shiromani Akali Dal, which is closely identified with the creation of a Sikh-majority state in Punjab and includes many Sikh religious leaders in its organisation.
Indian nationalism | Nationalism and politics
Support was concentrated in the Hindi-speaking belt in North-central India. The magnitude of the victory was not predicted by most opinion and exit polls. Political analysts have suggested several reasons for this victory, including the popularity of Modi, and the loss of support for the Congress due to the corruption scandals in its previous term. The BJP was also able to expand its traditionally upper-caste, upper-class support base and received significant support from middle-class and Dalit people, as well as among Other Backward Classes. Its support among Muslims remained low; only 8% of Muslim voters voted for the BJP. The BJP was also very successful at mobilising its supporters, and raising voter turnout among them.
Bharatiya Janata Party | NDA government (2014–present)
The Democrat Party remained in the opposition after the December 2007 parliamentary election. In a parliamentary vote to select a new prime minister on 28 January 2008, Samak Sundaravej of the People's Power Party defeated Abhisit by a vote of 310 to 163. On 9 September 2008, Samak was removed from the post by the Constitutional Court for receiving payment as the host of a TV cooking program. In the crisis that followed, some Democrat Party members became leaders of the People's Alliance for Democracy, which organised a six-month-long demonstration and seized Government House, Don Muang Airport, and Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Abhisit Vejjajiva | 2007 elections
The Kazakh government condemned the 13 December 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament saying terrorism is unjustifiable. President Nazarbayev and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee reaffirmed this message by issuing a joint declaration on 12 February 2002, when Nazarbayev visited India for a state visit, stating that "terrorism [can] not be justified in any form, for any cause or for any reason used as an excuse... the fight against terrorism has to be global, comprehensive and sustained for the objective of total elimination of terrorism everywhere." They agreed to establish a bilateral joint working group on counter-terrorism and expressed support for the Karzai administration and an end to terrorism in Afghanistan.
Terrorism and counter-terrorism in Kazakhstan | Cooperation with India
Quoting his views from his selected works published by his daughter:“Clearly the policy of suppression pursued in Jammu and Kashmir since 1990 has not succeeded to eliminate militancy, much less to crush popular unrest or bring back the people to the national mainstream. The bullet for bullet policy with untold human rights violations has proved counter-productive…Unless the root cause of militancy and the people’s disenchantment with India is tackled no worthwhile and lasting solution is possible. Primarily, it is a political problem which cannot be tackled with armed strength by dealing with it as simply a law and order problem.
Ved Bhasin | Views on Kashmir crisis
A number of political parties criticized the actions of the government, on the grounds that it was "an attempt by the BJP to push its Hindu nationalist agenda." Indian National Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said "It seems only the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have the licence to say who is a traitor and who is a patriot". Gandhi visited the JNU campus in solidarity with the protesting students. The general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Sitaram Yechury, tweeted "There can be no bigger farce than (Nathuram) Godse-worshippers putting out certificates on nationalism." Along with Communist Party of India secretary D.
Jawaharlal Nehru University sedition row | Response from Political Parties
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on an all-party conference declared that legal framework would be strengthened in the battle against "terrorism" and a federal anti-terrorist intelligence and investigation agency, like the FBI, will be set up soon to co-ordinate action against "terrorism". The government strengthened anti-terror laws with UAPA 2008, and the federal National Investigation Agency was formed. The attacks further strained India's slowly recovering relationship with Pakistan. India's then External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee declared that India may indulge in military strikes against terror camps in Pakistan to protect its territorial integrity. There were also after-effects on the United States's relationships with both countries, the US-led NATO war in Afghanistan, and on the Global War on Terror.
2008 Mumbai attacks | Aftermath
The main opposition party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which laid the groundwork for the deal criticized the deal saying that the deal in its present form was unacceptable to the BJP and wanted the deal renegotiated. The BJP had asked the government not to accept the deal without a vote in the parliament. However, the government remained steadfast on its commitment to the deal and has refused to back down on the agreement. Veteran BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani, in a statement to the Indian Express newspaper, seemed to indicate willingness to support the government provided some legislative measures. However his party refused to follow that line and stuck to its earlier stand.
Opposition to the Indo-US civilian agreement in India | Bharatiya Janata Party
Within one month of that election, the Government of India declared the CPI (Maoist) as a designated terrorist organization under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. A few months later Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that the Maoists pose the biggest internal threat to India's security and their activities had intensified over the previous years. The insurgency points to the commercial development and industrialization in forest regions that are home to India's tribal communities, resulting in loss of land or livelihood as justification for its activities. These regions are noted for lack of development; at 30% literacy, the Dantewada district has the lowest literacy rate in the nation.
April 2010 Maoist attack in Dantewada | Background
Senior Ministers and over 200 members of parliament were inside the Central Hall of Parliament when the attack took place. Security personnel sealed the entire premises, which saved many lives.
Terrorism in India | 2001 Attack on Indian parliament
Hindus were urged by VHP to "take revenge" for these deaths, resulting in riots against Muslims across Uttar Pradesh. The BJP withdrew its support from the V.P. Singh government, leading to fresh general elections. It once again increased its tally, to 120 seats, and won a majority in the Uttar Pradesh assembly. On 6 December 1992, the RSS and its affiliates organised a rally involving more than 100,000 VHP and BJP activists at the site of the mosque. Under circumstances that are not entirely clear, the rally developed into a frenzied attack that ended with the demolition of the mosque.
Bharatiya Janata Party | Ram Janmabhoomi movement and Hindutva
"The nation needs to be united, the political parties need to get united. The moment that happens, we will be capable of fighting terror," She controversially linked the twin blasts with a provocative speech made earlier by Akbaruddin Owaisi stating "Do these blasts have a connection with the provocative speeches made by an honourable member of this house?" which Asaduddin Owaisi his brother described "unfortunate" and "irresponsible". The spokesperson for Bharatiya Janta Party Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "Several innocent lives have been lost in the Hyderabad blasts. The government should stop playing politics on the issue of terrorism. We want the government to take appropriate action.
2013 Hyderabad blasts | Domestic
The Chief Minister of Delhi declared a compensation of Rs. 500,000 to the kin of the dead and Rs. 50,000 plus all costs of treatment to those injured. The blast was condemned by several Indian politicians including Pranab Mukherjee and Lal Krishna Advani. Main opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accused the government of India of being soft on terror. Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said, "The Government is determined to wean out the culprits." The series of attacks across major Indian cities since May 2008 reportedly created a sense of fear and insecurity among India's populace. According to a survey held by CNN-IBN and "Hindustan Times", 81% of urban Indians felt scared after the recent surge in terror attacks.
27 September 2008 Delhi bombing | Aftermath and reaction
However, the Singh administration has been successful in reducing terrorism in Northeast India.
Manmohan Singh | Security and Home Affairs
These terrorist acts are aimed at destroying our social fabric, undermining communal harmony and demoralising our people". President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Vice-president Hamid Ansari, Chief Minister Narendra Modi, all condemned the blasts and appealed for calm. Minister of State for Home Affairs Shakeel Ahmed expressed surprise and shock at the successive attacks. Home Minister Shivraj Patil said: "we should assess the situation correctly and try to help the people, who have suffered and plan to see that these things do not happen afterwards." Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party leader L. K. Advani condemned the blasts, and demanded that both Gujarat and Rajasthan should be allowed to go for their own anti-terror legislation.
2008 Ahmedabad bombings | Hindu–Muslim Unity
In response to the attack, Sharif – with consultation from all political parties – devised a 20-point National Action Plan which included continued execution of convicted terrorists, establishment of special military courts for two years and regulation of madrasas.
Nawaz Sharif | National security and defence policy
He decided to maintain a distance from the Dalai Lama in order to avoid aggravating Beijing's suspicions and concerns, and made successful overtures to Tehran. The 'cultivate Iran' policy was pushed through vigorously by him. These policies paid rich dividends for India in March 1994, when Benazir Bhutto's efforts to have a resolution passed by the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva on the human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir failed, with opposition by China and Iran. Rao's crisis management after 12 March 1993 Bombay bombings was highly praised. He personally visited Bombay after the blasts and after seeing evidence of Pakistani involvement in the blasts, ordered the intelligence community to invite the intelligence agencies of the US, UK and other West European countries to send their counter-terrorism experts to Bombay to examine the facts for themselves.
P. V. Narasimha Rao | National security, foreign policy and crisis management
- To make a society based on individual freedom to pursue one's happiness, so long as one does not take away freedom of others by force or fraud - To make India a free market economy and protect its freedom-based institutions such as democracy and secularism - To restrict role of the government only to maintenance of individual's freedom and management of public property
Jago Party | Vision
The new policy was partially an attempt to trim the electoral support of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The core constituency of the BJP were people from upper castes, who had until then held a monopoly over government jobs. The new policy thus fed resentment among the upper-castes, and raised inter-caste tensions in some parts of the country. Mobilising Hindus around the Ayodhya dispute was seen by the BJP as a way to unite its electorate, by creating an issue around which all Hindus could be united against Muslims. This effort tied in well with the philosophy of the Sangh Parivar, which professed "cultural nationalism", and believed in the unity of the highly fragmented Hindu population.
Ram Rath Yatra | Background and motivation
During the election campaign, the leaders of the Congress (R) and the Janata party travelled across the country to rally supporters. Indira and her Congress (R) promoted the record of achieving economic development and orderly government. Although she offered apologies for abuses committed during the Emergency, Indira and the Congress (R) defended the rationale 455 of imposing the state of emergency as being essential for national security. On the other hand, Janata leaders assailed Indira for ruling as a dictator and endangering human rights and democracy in India. Janata's campaign evoked memories of India's freedom struggle against British rule, during which Jayaprakash Narayan, Jivatram Kripalani and Morarji Desai had first emerged as political leaders.
Janata Party | 1977 elections
He also participated in the formation of the Janata Party and its initial setup (Janata Party was an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the State of Emergency). As a result, the party formation was complete and the party was ready when elections were declared in 1977.
Uttamrao Patil | Emergency years (1975-1977)
At a rally in Gurgaon, Haryana, part of the wider National Capital Region, Modi said: "People gave ruling Congress 60 years, I just need 60 months to prove that the BJP is the best option for India" and alleged that the INC was protecting Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Sonia Gandhi, after he was said to have "sold farmers land" and made money. "Robert Vadra's empty bank account was credited with $8.30m (Rs 500 million) in just three months. BJP wants answers". He also criticised the INC's Nandan Nilekani as he had "squandered crores of rupees in giving a unique identity (Aadhaar) to millions of people, which even the Supreme Court questioned, as it did not address the security concerns".
2014 Indian general election | Bharatiya Janata Party
Abhisit stated that all future Democrat MPs would have to declare their assets and any involvement in private companies. (By law, only members of the cabinet needed to declare their assets.) Abhisit raised more than 200 million baht at the Democrat Party's 60th anniversary dinner. He outlined several energy policies, including increasing dividend payments from state-owned oil company PTT and using the funds to repay oil fund debts, and having state-owned electric utility EGAT absorb part of the rising fuel prices. Abhisit later outlined plans to reduce retail petrol prices by eliminating the 2.50 baht/litre tax used to maintain the government's oil fund.
Abhisit Vejjajiva | Rise to Premiership
Despite a strong start, the Janata government began to wither as significant ideological and political divisions emerged. The party consisted of veteran socialists, trade unionists and pro-business leaders, making major economic reforms difficult to achieve without triggering a public divide. Socialists and secular Janata politicians shared an aversion to the Hindu nationalist agenda of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, whose members included Vajpayee, Advani and other leaders from the former Bharatiya Jana Sangh. Violence between Hindus and Muslims led to further confrontations within the Janata party, with most Janata leaders demanding that Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani choose between staying in government and being members of the RSS.
Janata Party | Fall of the government
In July 2017, he asked to increase compensation for the loss of agricultural crops due to attack by wild animals, from INR 770 per coconut tree to INR 10,000 and INR 30,000 for rice crop. He asked the government to consider an insurance package for people affected by the attack
Sumesh Achuthan | Political career
In a televised address Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said India would “go after” individuals and organisations behind the terrorist attacks, which were “well-planned with external linkages”. In addition, the attacks were "intended to create a sense of panic by choosing high-profile targets and indiscriminately killing innocent foreigners", Singh said in a televised address to the nation. Leader of the opposition L K Advani asked the people of India to stay united during the emergency. He also said, "We will take the strongest possible measures to ensure that there is no repetition of such terrorist acts".
Reactions to the 2008 Mumbai attacks | India
This led to the Bharatiya Janata Party's suspension of support to the National Front government. VP Singh faced the vote of no confidence in the Lok Sabha saying that he occupied the high moral ground, as he stood for secularism, had saved the Babri Masjid at the cost of power and had upheld the fundamental principles which were challenged during the crises. "What kind of India do you want?" he asked of his opponents in Parliament, before losing the vote 142–346; only a portion of the National Front remaining loyal to him and the left parties supported him in the vote.
Vishwanath Pratap Singh | Ram temple issue and the fall of the coalition
A spokesman from the PMO said the PM Singh had spoken to the Chief Minister who had apprised Singh about the incident in his state. Singh, via the spokesman, also condemned the attacks on innocent people and expressed his sorrow over the incident. The ruling Communist Party of India's general secretary Prakash Karat said "The central government should extend all help to the state government in tracking down the culprits behind this attack especially in view of the fact that the state has international borders on its three sides." He also noted that the Left Front government in Tripura has registered significant success in tackling the extremist groups who used to resort to terrorist violence in the insurgency-racked state.
2008 Agartala bombings | Reactions
Various scholars have stated that this revision, especially in the case of history textbooks, was a covert attempt to "saffronise" Indian history. The NDA government introduced Vedic astrology as a subject in college curricula, despite opposition from several leading scientists. Taking a position against what it calls the "pseudo-secularism" of the Congress party, the BJP instead supports "positive secularism". Vajpayee laid out the BJP's interpretation of Mahatma Gandhi's doctrine of "Sarvadharma Samabhava" and contrasted it with what he called European secularism. He had said that Indian secularism attempted to see all religions with equal respect, while European secularism was independent of religion, thus making the former more "positive".
Bharatiya Janata Party | Social policies and Hindutva
In a response to this, the BJP heavily criticised Rahul Gandhi for his statements. BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad slammed Rahul Gandhi, saying that his language was a bigger threat to India, dividing the people of the country on communal grounds. Speaking to reporters, Prasad said, "In one stroke Mr. Rahul Gandhi has sought to give a big leverage to the propaganda to all the extremist and terrorist groups in Pakistan, and also some segments of Pakistani establishment. It would also seriously compromise India's fight against terror as also our strategic security. "Adding that terrorism has no religion, he said that Rahul Gandhi had shown his lack of understanding India.
Rahul Gandhi | National security
Party's fundamental principles had not covered several issues like foreign policy, national language, state reorganisation and religious and social reform. The party was generally opposed to Communism and in 1969, urged the Indian government to ban the 3 major Communist parties in India at that time, namely the CPI, CPI(M) and the Naxalites due to their open or tacit support for armed struggles, which the Swatantra party viewed as a major security threat to the nation. In foreign affairs, it opposed non-alignment and a close relationship with the USSR and advocated an intimate connection with the United States and Western Europe.
Swatantra Party | Others
The first challenge before the new govt had come from Herat, Afghanistan where the Indian consulate was attacked by the ISI backed terrorist organisation days before Modi's inauguration. Visiting the war-torn country on 10 September Swaraj called "India Afghanistan's first strategic partner". and has committed to play a greater role in capacity building by strengthening the Afghan National Army but sighed away from possibility of sending troops or direct export of military hardware from India instead according to an arrangement made earlier India would pay for purchase of arms and ammunitions from Russia. Potential re-emergence of the Taliban and al-Qaeda in the subcontinent following NATO withdrawal from the country by end of 2014 have raised concerns among Indian security establishments.
South Asian foreign policy of the Narendra Modi government | Afghanistan
The attacks evoked severe responses from political parties and their leaders, particularly of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Mayawati, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, accused the Congress-ruled Maharashtra government of failing to prevent the attacks. She demanded centre intervention to protect the lives and properties of North Indians in the state. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said ""Mumbai ujad jayega" (Mumbai will be ruined)". In response to the attacks on taxi drivers and vendors, he added, "What will happen in Mumbai if taxis go off the roads? Mumbai will come to a standstill". Lalu Prasad Yadav on 5 February 2008, took up the issue of attacks on North Indians with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and demanded action against those involved in them.
2008 attacks on Uttar Pradeshi and Bihari migrants in Maharashtra | Political reactions
It was during his term that terrorism in the Indian state of Punjab was finally defeated. Also scenarios of aircraft hijackings, which occurred during Rao's time ended without the government conceding the terrorists' demands. He also directed negotiations to secure the release of Doraiswamy, an Indian Oil executive, from Kashmiri terrorists who kidnapped him, and Liviu Radu, a Romanian diplomat posted in New Delhi in October 1991, who was kidnapped by Sikh terrorists. Rao also handled the Indian response to the occupation of the Hazratbal holy shrine in Jammu and Kashmir by terrorists in October 1993. He brought the occupation to an end without damage to the shrine.
P. V. Narasimha Rao | National security, foreign policy and crisis management
India's nominal military spending increased steadily under Modi. The military budget declined over Modi's tenure both as a fraction of GDP and when adjusted for inflation. A substantial portion of the military budget was devoted to personnel costs, leading commentators to write that the budget was constraining Indian military modernisation. The BJP election manifesto had also promised to deal with illegal immigration into India in the Northeast, as well as to be more firm in its handling of insurgent groups. The Modi government issued a notification allowing Hindu, Sikh, and Buddhist illegal immigrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh to legalise their residency in India.
Narendra Modi | Defence policy
Contact was established with the Maoist leadership, and the response was positive. A letter by Prachanda to a government intermediary stated that three minimum conditions need to fulfilled before any high level negotiations and that they would cease all operations during this time. The conditions were, reveal the whereabouts of a central committee member of the CPN-Maoist along with others who had 'disappeared', initiate moves to release arrested workers and sympathizers; and end state terrorism and begin process to investigate the incident of arson and killing in Rukum district. After Krishna Prasad Bhattarai resigned and was replaced by Girija Prasad Koirala, the new prime minister declared: 'The first priority of the government will be to restore law and order in the country to protect lives of the people.'
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) | People's War, 1996–2001
In 1975, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed a state of emergency. The Jana Sangh took part in the widespread protests, with thousands of its members being imprisoned along with other agitators across the country. In 1977, the emergency was withdrawn and general elections were held. The Jana Sangh merged with parties from across the political spectrum, including the Socialist Party, the Congress (O) and the Bharatiya Lok Dal to form the Janata Party, with its main agenda being defeating Indira Gandhi. The Janata Party won a majority in 1977 and formed a government with Morarji Desai as Prime Minister. The former Jana Sangh contributed the largest tally to the Janata Party's parliamentary contingent, with 93 seats or 31% of its strength.
Bharatiya Janata Party | Janata Party (1977–80)
Khattak favours peace talks with the Taliban, a policy of the state. During his tenure an anti-terrorism force was set-up. Khattak's government combated drug smugglers as well, many were arrested in raids.
Pervez Khattak | Security and terrorism policy
In response to the 2019 Pulwama attack, the Indian Air Force conducted airstrikes inside Pakistan — for the first time since the 1971 Indo-Pak war. The ongoing conflict with Pakistan became a significant factor in the election. The opposition parties accused of politicising the army, whilst the BJP countered their accusations by stating that such allegations raised by them were adversely affecting the morale of armed forces. According to the Pew Research Center, both before and after the outbreak of recent India-Pakistan tensions, their 2018 and 2019 surveys suggest that the significant majority of the voters consider Pakistan as a "very serious threat" to their country, and terrorism to be a "very big problem".
2019 Indian general election | National security and terrorism