Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis, on Sunday, hailed the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the contributions of stalwarts like Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee for the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to its position as the world's largest political party.
Fadnavis was speaking at the foundation stone-laying ceremony for the new BJP office in Nagpur, an event attended by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. The BJP, which was founded on April 6, 1980, by former leaders of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), had initially struggled, securing only two Lok Sabha seats in the 1984 elections. However, the party experienced rapid growth in the years that followed under the guidance of leaders like Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani.
The BJP, which was founded on April 6, 1980, by former leaders of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), had initially struggled, securing only two Lok Sabha seats in the 1984 elections. However, the party experienced rapid growth in the years that followed under the guidance of leaders like Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani. The BJP rose to power in the 1990s as part of a coalition government, eventually securing an outright majority under Modi's leadership in 2014. Since then, the party has been in power at the Centre.
Fadnavis expressed pride in the occasion, likening it to the laying of the foundation for a "house" of their own. He praised the efforts of earlier leaders, saying, "Through the relentless dedication of Mookerjee, Upadhyaya, Vajpayee, and under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Modi, BJP has become the largest political party in the world."In his address, Fadnavis also made a personal contribution of Rs 5 lakh towards the new office and encouraged party members to contribute generously according to their capacity to support the initiative.