In a breaking development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced today that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) aims to win 370 Lok Sabha seats in the upcoming 2024 general elections. This symbolic number pays tribute to the legacy of Syama Prasad Mookerjee, who dedicated his life towards integrating Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of India and removing its special autonomous status under Article 370.
Addressing the BJP’s national executive meeting in New Delhi, PM Modi declared that securing 370 parliamentary seats would be a “true homage” to Mookerjee’s activism and sacrifice. Mookerjee was the founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the predecessor to today’s ruling BJP party.
Article 370 was a constitutional provision that granted special autonomous powers to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, allowing it to draft its own constitution and restricting the Indian parliament’s legislative powers. Mookerjee launched a nationwide campaign against this in the 1950s, demanding full integration of J&K into the Republic of India. Article 370 was eventually abrogated in August 2019.
The removal of Article 370 has been a long-standing goal on the BJP’s political agenda. Now, PM Modi has called upon party members to make this a focal point in their campaigns for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Along with emphasizing BJP’s achievements in boosting India’s development and global standing under his leadership, the party aims to highlight the successful nullification of J&K’s special status as a milestone national integration success.
Modi instructed BJP cadres to add 370 votes at every electoral booth to bolster the party’s 2024 victory. Hailing an era of transparency and reform under the NDA government, he urged workers to showcase the stark differences between India’s situation before and after 2014 to first-time voters. Cautioning against diversionary negative campaigns by the opposition, PM Modi reiterated that the poor and India’s growth trajectory should remain at the heart of BJP’s messaging to the people.
As the dominant ruling party, the BJP currently holds 303 of 543 elected seats in the Lok Sabha. After two successive general election victories under Modi in 2014 and 2019, the party is confident of crossing the majority mark yet again in 2024. Its leaders described today’s 370-seat target as ambitious but achievable through grassroots mobilization.
Elections remain over 12 months away, allowing party machinery significant preparation time to propagate BJP’s political narrative of security, inclusive development and self-sufficient economic growth centered on the common Indian. Mookerjee’s lasting legacy continues to inspire the party’s policy and poll strategies even decades after his untimely demise fighting for Jammu and Kashmir’s national repatriation. By aiming for a 370+ seat haul, PM Modi has signaled that upholding and completing Mookerjee’s visions remains a cornerstone goal for his government’s second term in power.