DefinePK

Abstract

It goes without saying that the unprecedented victory of the BJP in the recent elections has out-distanced even its own major success of 1998. The political landscape of India witnessed a historical about-turn when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) decisively ended the decade-long political monopoly of the Indian National Congress (INC). This paper seeks to uncover other distinct and multifaceted factors which led to the overwhelming rise of the tide of Hindutva, and this despite the fact that India is touted as being a secular and pluralistic democratic state. This essay reveals multifarious aspects of this process as they emerge from a detailed historical account of the evolution of the BJP and nationalistic politics within India. Besides, it attempts to assess both the nature of the present BJP government and its likely future policies. The paper explores the deeper roots of Hindu nationalist movements and ideologies in India. The purpose is to identify the dynamics behind the honing of Hinduness, which culminated into Bharatiya Janata party, to unravel the internal processes of the BJP, the characteristics of different BJP leaders, and the trajectory of BJP’s development and the factors that led to its rise, the future policies of the recently formed BJP government and hence the implications that can be expected.