In BJP external push, 25 global parties invited to have a ringside view of Lok Sabha polls, its campaign

Significantly, neither of the two US parties – the ruling Democrats and the Opposition Republicans – have been invited. A BJP leader explained, “For one, they are busy with their own Presidential elections. Also, the US parties are not structured like parties in India or in some parts of Europe. In the US, for instance, a party worker may not know the name of his party’s chairman, because the system makes only the office of the President or the US Congress prominent.”

The BJP has however invited the Conservative and Labour parties of the UK, and the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats of Germany.

No political party from Pakistan has been invited, given India’s poor relations with the neighbouring country. The Communist Party of China (CPC) has also not been invited.

From neighbouring Bangladesh, only the ruling Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League has been invited. The Opposition BNP has not been invited as it has been linked with a recent ‘India Out’ campaign on social media for boycotting Indian goods.

All prominent political parties of Nepal, including the Maoists, have been invited by the BJP. The same holds true for Sri Lanka, from where all main parties have been invited.

The BJP is hoping that the leaders of invited political parties from various countries of the world would visit India during the third or fourth phase of the elections scheduled for the second week of May.

The foreign observers will first be briefed in Delhi about the BJP, the political system and the electoral process of India. Then, the groups of 5-6 observers will be taken to 4-5 constituencies to meet party leaders, the BJP’s candidates, and also possibly attend the rallies of top BJP leaders such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah or party chief J P Nadda.

The party’s move comes in the wake of KNOW BJP, an initiative aimed at external outreach, undertaken under Nadda. Close to 70 heads of mission from various countries have met the BJP president as part of this initiative, even as the BJP delegations have also visited several countries. Nepal leader Prachanda was also invited to the BJP headquarters as part of this outreach. Even in the recent Assembly elections to five states, the party had taken 4-5 foreign delegates to various places to show them electioneering there.

In recent months there have been moments of India’s friction with Canada after the killing of a Khalistan separatist there, and also with Germany and the US following the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal, apart from tensions with some global media organisations from the UK and the US.

However, the BJP leaders brush aside these factors as possible motivations for reaching out to political parties overseas. “We rightfully say India is the mother of democracy and the BJP is the biggest party in the world. So, correct understanding of the BJP is also important. How BJP wins, what is the scale and depth of its campaigns, is something we want political players abroad to know about,” Vijay Chauthaiwale, the BJP’s foreign affairs cell in-charge, told The Indian Express.