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“A Victory for Secular India”? Hindu Nationalism in the 2004 Election

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 November 2010

J. E. Llewellyn
J. E. Llewellyn*
Affiliation:
Missouri State University
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: J. E. Llewellyn, Department of Religious Studies, Missouri State University, Springfield, MO 65897. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

At least since the last decade of the 20th century, there has been strong scholarly interest in a perceived global wave of religious nationalism. Critical to that movement was the most important recent development in Indian politics, the rise of the Hindu right. Commentators lamented a fundamental change in the Indian body politic, the demise of India's celebrated secularism. However, others predicted that the Hindu nationalists would be forced to move to the center to gain votes, jettisoning much of their peculiar ideology in the process. The 2004 national parliamentary election was a crucial test of these contending interpretations. Would the Bharatiya Janata Party rely on its established arsenal of communally controversial issues? Would it emphasize themes designed to appeal to a broader audience? Analyzing reports published in national newspapers and news magazines, I will reach the surprising conclusion that the answer to both of these questions is yes.

Type
Articles
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , April 2011 , pp. 49 - 70
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2010

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