PM Modi’s poll gains point to push on India’s civil law reform, infrastructure
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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has long been pushing for a Single Civil Code to govern civil laws, instead of the current practice of allowing Indians of different religions to follow laws specific to their faith or opt for a secular law.
The BJP cannot implement the policy at the federal level because it does not have a two-thirds majority in parliament to change the constitution; He can only do this in the states he governs. The other signature policy of infrastructure rollout will be easier to implement with less resistance from opposition-run states.
Rahul Verma of the Center for Policy Research in Delhi noted that some BJP states are already trying to come up with their own versions of civil codes. He said the party could also advance other proposals such as reorganization of constituencies across the country and holding simultaneous state and national elections, both of which could favor the ruling party.
“It’s not like they’re going to take immediate action on this in the next six months to a year,” Verma said. “But you can hear these speeches again. It is certain that the party will become stronger and more confident in re-implementing these ideas.”Also Read: Himanta supremacy: BJP is the only party to oppose anti-incumbency
When the Election Commission announced the voting trends in last month’s state elections, the BJP was on track to win the key eastern state of West Bengal and retain power in the neighboring state of Assam. The BJP had poured resources into the Bengal elections, and Modi and his top lieutenant, Home Minister Amit Shah, addressed more than 80 rallies and roadshows together in the state during the campaign.
The gains will give the party and its allies control of 20 of India’s 28 states and two of its three territories with federally run legislatures; This is a dominance unmatched since the 1960s. The main gain for the BJP from the April elections will be West Bengal, one of India’s largest states and one that dominates the east of the country, where it has long sought to seize power.
Apart from the almost certain victory in Assam, an alliance including the BJP made significant inroads in the key southern state of Tamil Nadu, although the pole position in the elections was held by a new party led by a film star.
These victories followed the 2024 general elections, in which the BJP lost its parliamentary majority and formed the government in New Delhi with the help of coalition allies.
OPPOSITION HAS DECREASED WITH LATEST ELECTION RESULTS
BJP MP Praveen Khandelwal said the state’s victories would boost investor confidence through greater political stability, accelerate infrastructure expansion and improve welfare delivery. They would also allow the party to push for policies that would replace religion-specific civil codes.
“The Uniform Civil Code has long been part of the ideological and political agenda of the BJP,” Khandelwal told Reuters. “As the number of BJP-ruled states increases, state-level initiatives towards UCC, such as drafting committees, consultations or partial legislative harmonization, become more likely.”
According to voting trends, governments strongly opposed to the BJP in West Bengal and the southern state of Tamil Nadu are on their way out, a crushing blow to the anti-Modi alliance.
“The opposition’s inability to mobilize and establish a stable, ideologically driven base has been a major weakness,” said Neelanjan Sircar, an associate professor at Ahmedabad University in Gujarat state.
The opposition and some analysts say the BJP’s success reflects factors such as gerrymandering in Assam and a revision of voter rolls in Bengal that excluded millions of mostly Muslim voters from the rolls.
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Opposition parties say a significant portion of those excluded are their own supporters. But the Electoral Commission said the exercise followed established procedures aimed at eliminating duplicate, deceased or relocated voters, among other categories.
“The BJP has a charismatic national leader, they are a very organized party, they have an advantage of resources that many parties do not have and a clear ideological narrative, all of which help mobilize sections of the Hindu population,” Verma said. he said.
In the 2024/25 financial year ending March 31, the BJP declared a total revenue of 67.69 billion rupees ($712 million), while the main opposition Congress party earned 9.18 billion rupees, according to the Association for Democratic Reforms.
Among the BJP’s main campaign promises in Bengal and Assam was the deportation from Bangladesh of what it described as illegal Muslim immigrants.
The BJP has also promised assistance to women and unemployed youth in Bengal, including a monthly allowance of Rs 3,000. Since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the Modi government has provided free food stamps to more than 800 million of India’s 1.42 billion people, program analysts say; program analysts say it helped boost support among poor voters.
Referring to the 2024 general election results, BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said, “The so-called ‘lost ground’ of the party is a baseless argument created by the opposition.” he said. “There is no challenge to either the BJP or Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership.”
