Operation Sindoor, state battles and more: Modi's BJP firmly in command one year after Lok Sabha debacle

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the swearing-in ceremony on June 9, 2024. (File/PTI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre completes one year in office on Monday. On June 9, 2024, Modi was sworn in as Prime Minister along with the Union Cabinet, five days after the Lok Sabha polls cut the BJP to size, reducing its tally from 303 in 2019 to 240.

Having been forced to depend on the support of allies to form a government at the Centre for the first time since 2014, there was apprehension of a diminished BJP running to allies for every important decision. However, the first year of Modi 3.0 has been anything but that.

From taking bold and contentious decisions like an overhaul of the Waqf law and forging ahead with the idea of simultaneous polls, to Operation Sindoor and its decision to include caste data in the national population census, the BJP under Modi has managed to push ahead with its ideological agenda while constantly keeping the Opposition on its toes.

Back with a Bang

It did not take the BJP too long to dust off the Lok Sabha beating and demolish the Opposition's —especially Congress's — narrative of having 'won' the Lok Sabha polls by depriving the BJP of a clear majority for the first time in three elections.

The first test came in Haryana where the BJP had managed to win only five of the 10 Lok Sabha seats. Barely four months on, it managed to turn the script and bounced back winning 48 of the 90 seats in the Assembly.

As the Opposition sought to attribute the victory to a fluke, even accusing the Election Commission of India of colluding with the ruling party, the BJP's next big test came in Maharashtra where it had faced one of its worst setbacks in the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP eventually bagged 132 of the 288 Assembly seats on its own and a staggering 235 seats with its allies.

Then came the Delhi elections in February where Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party had swept the last two Assembly polls. However, the BJP scripted a remarkable turnaround to emerge as the winner in 48 of 70 seats in the capital, returning to power after a 27-year hiatus.

The elections in Jammu and Kashmir saw the erstwhile state take a major step towards normalcy with the democratic exercise being held for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. While the peaceful conduct of elections was celebrated, the BJP itself emerged as the dominant party in the Jammu region, winning 29 seats as compared for Congress's 6. The National Conference formed the government with 42 seats and Omar Abdullah was sworn-in as the Chief Minister.

The only political setback the BJP faced was in Jharkhand where the JMM-Congress alliance returned to power with 47 seats while the BJP was relegated to the Opposition with 21 seats in the 81-strong Assembly.

Beyond electoral victories

While victories in states where it had faced setbacks in the Lok Sabha elections ensured it had trampled the narrative of a weakened BJP, it took some strong decisions for Modi to re-establish that it was firmly in control.

April this year saw the passage of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, in Parliament, ensuring that the government continued to address issues that are in line with its core ideology. While the BJP had long advocate transparency in matters pertaining to Muslims in India, one didn't really expect the government to walk the mile given the strong support that JD(U)'s Nitish Kumar and TDP's Chandrababu Naidu drew from the community.

However, the BJP's outreach to allies and deft maneuvering ensured that it had all allies on board with the decision. The law is currently under challenge in the Supreme Court.

As the nation was ridden by grief following the killing of 26 civilians in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, the Modi government took everyone by surprise as it announced that caste data would be part if the national census. The move marked a remarkable turnaround for the BJP which had appeared to be against the idea that Congress MP Rahul Gandhi had long sought to champion.

By announcing the measure at a time when anticipation was building over the government's response to the Pahalgam terror attack, the BJP had not only managed to signal a 'business as usual' approach, but also left the Opposition stumped and scrambling for a response.

Virtually taking the wind out the Congress' sails, the BJP had all but negated the Opposition's caste plank and accused successive Congress-led governments of obstructing a caste census while pointing out how the party had been traditionally opposed to the very idea of caste-based reservations as it put the recommendations of the Mandal Commission on the backburner since the 1980s.

Operation Sindoor

India's retaliation to the Pahalgam attack as it struck terror camps deep within Pakistan's territory has allowed the BJP and PM Modi to ride the nationalism wave once again. The Opposition, which initially appeared to have learnt from its errors in the aftermath of the Uri surgical strikes and the Balakot air strikes, gave in to the temptation of targeting the government eventually.

The Congress' line of attack, which initially veered from one goal post to the other, eventually focussed on accusing the government of bending to international pressure while agreeing to a ceasefire with Pakistan, has found few takers with several of its own leaders countering this narrative.

The Modi government's decision to include notable Congress leaders in delegations abroad has proven to be a masterstroke domestically. One the one hand, it has shown the Prime Minister acting like a true statesman by including members of the Opposition — some his fiercest critics — in the delegations abroad, on the other, it has allowed Congress' own leaders to counter the party's narrative against the Centre.

Several opposition leaders — including Shashi Tharoor and Salman Khurshid of the Congress, K Kanimozhi of the DMK, and Asaduddin Owaisi of AIMIM — too have echoed the Centre's articulation of Operation Sindoor as a new normal in India's response to terrorism.

Moreover, the Congress' objections to party MP Shashi Tharoor's defence of Operation Sindoor on foreign soil has only laid bare how confused the party is in its messaging where it vows unconditional support to the Centre on issues of national security but chooses to attack its own MP when he puts forth India's stand on Operation Sindoor on the international stage.