The Bharatiya Janata Party is a political party in India and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under the incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP is aligned with right-wing politics and has close ideological and organisational links to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) volunteer paramilitary organisation. Its policies adhere to Hindutva, a Hindu nationalist ideology. As of January 2024, it is the country's biggest political party in terms of representation in the Parliament of India as well as state legislatures.
BJP flag being flown in one of its campaign rallies.
Syama Prasad Mookerjee, founder-president of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh
Lal Krishna Advani, the last president of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the founder-president of the Bharatiya Janata Party
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party or simply the Congress, is a political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Empire in Asia and Africa. From the late 19th century, and especially after 1920, under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, the Congress became the principal leader of the Indian independence movement. The Congress led India to independence from the United Kingdom, and significantly influenced other anti-colonial nationalist movements in the British Empire.
First session of Indian National Congress, Bombay, 28–31 December 1885
Bal Gangadhar Tilak speaking in 1907 as the Party split into moderates and extremists. Seated at the table is Aurobindo Ghosh and to his right (in the chair) is G. S. Khaparde, both allies of Tilak.
Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru during a meeting of the All India Congress, in 1946
Azad, Patel and Gandhi at an AICC meeting in Bombay, 1940
