Bharatiya Janata Party

Indian right-wing political party formed in 1980. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; Hindi: ‘Indian People’s Party’) is the largest political party in the world. It emerged from the erstwhile Bharatiya Jan Sangh as it broke away from the Janata Party coalition opposing the Emergency of 1975–77 imposed by the Indira Gandhi-led Congress government. The BJP has strong ideological and organisational ties with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a right-wing Hindutva paramilitary group. Since 1988, following the Ram Janmabhoomi Movement, the BJP has strengthened its commitment to Hindu nationalism. The party’s ideology is socially conservative and its economic policies prioritise deregulation and privatisation of industries. Its electoral strongholds are largely concentrated in northern India.