Bengaluru: Newly re-elected Bangalore South MP Tejasvi Surya believes that the Lok Sabha election results have given the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a window to expand its presence in states where its presence has been limited.
Even though the BJP fell short of securing a majority on its own, the party has been able to garner higher vote shares in several states and even managed to win a seat in Kerala.
“We have gained an absolute majority in Odisha for the first time. Out of the 21 Lok Sabha seats, the BJP has won 20. We have a full majority in the Odisha assembly. Our coalition has come to power in Andhra Pradesh for the first time,” Surya told ThePrint in an interview.
He added that the party’s vote share had gone up in Punjab and breached the double-digit mark in Tamil Nadu
“The BJP as a political party is very clear that we must expand geographically,” Surya added.
Having fallen short of the 272-seat majority mark, the BJP is falling back on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) with support from parties in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar and other states to form a government for a third successive term under Narendra Modi.
Although the BJP was unable to win a seat in Tamil Nadu, the party has seen its vote share jump to 11.24 percent in 2024 from 3.62 percent in 2019, according to Election Commission data. Surya said this has made the party a “force to reckon with” and “formidable” in the southern state.
The party also opened its account in Kerala as actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi won from Thrissur.
“We have opened our account in Kerala, which was considered to be impossible…we have broken that fortress. It’s a matter of time before Tamil Nadu and Kerala also accept the BJP,” he added.
‘Hindutva to be DNA’
Modi will take oath as PM for a third time Sunday along with his council of ministers and in the presence of the leaders of other countries.
Surya said that the Lok Sabha results proved that Modi is the most popular leader in the country.
However, Surya believes that for India to retain its essence, Hindutva needs to be its core DNA.
“For India to remain India, Bharat to remain Bharat, Hindutva must be the DNA for the spirit of governance,” he said.
The BJP, which took a hardline approach in its election campaign, has now fallen back on allies who don’t necessarily subscribe to its Hindutva ideology.
In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, Modi had led the charge against the “appeasement politics” of the Congress and its INDIA bloc partners. Among other claims, he said the Congress would snatch away women’s mangalsutras and redistribute everyone’s wealth to Muslims.
Speaking about this, Surya said, “Whether it is the prime minister’s mangalsutra remark, whether it is the response to Muslim reservation, [it] has always been a response to the Congress party’s manifesto, the Congress party’s agenda,” Surya said.
He added that the BJP’s response to opponents’ policies could not be construed as its own narrative.
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‘Fringe elements’
The BJP was able to win just 240 out of the 543 seats — well short of its ‘400-paar’ target — in the Lok Sabha polls held between 19 April and 1 June.
Surya said there were multiple factors that contributed to the loss of seats but a deeper review of this would be conducted very soon.
“It’s true that we are short by a few seats as far as the BJP’s overall majority is concerned. But what is more important is that the NDA has been given a full majority. Narendra Modi ji will be the prime minister for a third term,” Surya said.
He added that the ‘400-paar’ campaign was the party setting high expectations for itself and that the unexpected loss of seats in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra and Rajasthan led to a shortage in its overall tally.
Surya attributed the BJP’s loss in Uttar Pradesh’s Faizabad seat — under which Ayodhya falls — to local factors but added that the construction of the Ram Mandir had enthused people.
During the campaign, the Congress sought votes in the name of protecting the Constitution and democracy. Congress leaders say this was helped by statements made by firebrand Karnataka BJP leader Anantkumar Hegde about changing the Constitution. Hegde was one of several BJP leaders who made such remarks.
“Hegde’s statements helped us in nearly 100 seats across the country. Oppressed communities and backward-class groups backed our alliance as they saw a real threat to reservation and the rights it ensures if the Constitution is changed,” one All India Congress Committee (AICC) leader told ThePrint, requesting anonymity.
In early March, Hegde told ThePrint that he stands by the remarks he made in 2017 about the BJP wanting to change the Constitution. He added that the BJP wanted 400 seats and power in 20 states to amend the Constitution — a remark that the party distanced itself from. Hegde was denied a ticket in the 2024 elections.
Asked about the impact of these statements, Surya said, “There are multiple factors that go into making a campaign successful or not so successful. This may also have been a factor. We do not deny that. But people also judge political leaders and parties based on our actions as well,” Surya said.
He added that in the past 10 years under Modi, the Constitution and the rule of law had been strengthened and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act had been bolstered.
“We have opposed Muslim reservation because the Constitution does not permit religion-based reservation…this is again further strengthening of the Constitution. Our government abrogated Article 370 and extended the Constitution to the whole of Jammu & Kashmir,” Surya said, adding that the party should be judged by its actions and not by the statements of “one or two fringe elements”.
Hegde is a former Union minister and six-time BJP MP from Uttara Kannada.
‘Party can’t be culpable for individual wrongdoings’
The BJP-Janata Dal (Secular)-JD(S) alliance swept most seats in southern Karnataka, barring Hassan, where it fielded rape-accused Prajwal Revanna.
Shreyas Patel of the Congress won from Hassan, defeating Prajwal, the grandson of former PM H.D. Deve Gowda.
Surya said the alliance was successful as it bagged a total of 19 seats (17 BJP and 2 JD(S)).
The BJP maintained a distance from Prajwal after allegations of rape, criminal intimidation and abduction among others surfaced against the 33-year-old then-MP and his parents, H.D. Revanna and Bhavani.
The former Hassan MP remains in the custody of a special investigation team (SIT) at least until 10 June.
Surya said that Modi, Amit Shah and other senior state and national leaders of the BJP had “always unequivocally condemned” on various occasions and platforms what has happened in the Prajwal Revanna case.
“Whether it is Neha Hiremath’s case or Prajwal Revanna’s matter, our position is very clear. We do not subscribe to or support any person, any individual who behaves this way with the women of the country,” he said.
“The coalition, the NDA or in fact the JD(S) as a political party cannot be made culpable for the individual wrongdoings of a particular person. What he has done in his personal capacity,” he added.
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