Hindu nationalism and the rise of caste-based parties in North India (1984-2004)

Abstract

The rise of Hindu nationalism and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as a major force in Indian politics in the early 1990s is an oft-examined topic of contemporary Indian political history. However, the progress of the BJP in the 1990s met several challenges, the strongest of which centred on the rise of caste-based parties as key state-level political mediators in north India. The rise of caste-based parties challenged the pan-Indian overtones of Hindutva and the BJPa??s attempts to consolidate the a??Hindu votea?? a?? for acknowledging caste-based parties as political partners meant a dilution of commitment towards the Sangh Parivara??s call for a united Hindu society. The BJPa??s handling of this ideological and political problematic, the effect this had on the partya??s character and functioning, and the transformation effected on Hindu nationalism as a result of these challenges, forms the central queries of this thesis.