Suhas Palshikar

The BJP and Hindu Nationalism: Centrist Politics and Majoritarian Impulses

Will the BJP pursue its Hindutva ideology while in power or will it now gradually become a ‘centrist’ party? Responding to this question, the present paper argues that the possibility that it would transform into a centrist party is rather dim for four reasons: 1) the mixing of Hindutva identity with the development agenda during the national election campaign in 2014; 2) the mild and covert pursuit of Hindutva by both party and government; 3) the dynamic, but deep-rooted relationship between Hindutva and the BJP; and 4) most importantly, the slow and imperceptible shifting of the middle ground of public opinion in India in favour of majoritarian (and therefore pro-Hindutva) sentiment.

Surveying South Asia

Abstract:Most South Asians believe that democracy is suitable for their country and prefer democracy over authoritarianism. While support for the institutional form of democracy is determined by access to education, media exposure, the experience of living under democratic conditions, support for the idea of democracy cuts across social barriers. The more active one is in politics, the more likely one is to support democracy; and the higher the degree of one’s participation from being a one-time voter to a regular voter to a participant in nonelectoral political activity and finally to being a member of political organization’s the higher is likely to be one’s support for democratic governance.