Varghese K. George reviews Jugalbandi: The BJP before Modi, by Vinay Sitapati
4 years, 1 month ago

Varghese K. George reviews Jugalbandi: The BJP before Modi, by Vinay Sitapati

The Hindu  

The march of Hindu nationalism was wobbly and uncertain for most part of the last century, though its strides appear sure-footed now. The duo nurtured Hindu nationalism in its infancy but was taken aback by its muscularity and masculinity as it grew up, according to Vinay Sitapati in his new book, Jugalbandi: The BJP before Modi. partnership had been crafted, not just for personal fortune, but for a loftier goal.” Violent charter Sitapati uses these two characters as a conduit to take the readers into the rather colourful world of Hindu nationalism, without offering judgment. Following the Meenakshipuram conversions of Dalits to Islam in 1981, the Congress sprung to action as defenders of Hinduism; in 1983, Indira Gandhi’s Congress used the Hindu card in elections in Jammu and Kashmir; as Sikh separatism and terrorism grew, the Congress questioned the patriotism of the BJP on grounds of its earlier sympathy with Akali politics. The “two criteria that this book argues defines the BJP: an emphasis on organisational unity and an ideology designed to win elections.” Ideology, for the BJP is merely instrumental, as it comes across.

Nationalism Congress Ideology Hindu Bjp Book Modi Hindutva Vajpayee Hindu Nationalism Sitapati Jugalbandi Vinay Sitapati  sitapati  reviews  nationalism  congress  hindu  jugalbandi  author  modi  book  george  k  vinay  bjp  ideology  vajpayee  varghese

History of this topic

UP By-Polls: BJP's Nationalism vs. INDIA Alliance's Backward and Minority Outreach
5 months ago

UP By-Polls: BJP's Nationalism vs. INDIA Alliance's Backward and Minority Outreach

Deccan Chronicle  

NEW DELHI: With the shadow of the byelections in the 10 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh looming large, the fight is on between the BJP’s jingoistic nationalism and the INDIA alliance’s attempts to weaponise the backward and minority communities. As the BJP, blending Hindutva and nationalism, kicked off its “Tiranga March” across all the state’s Assembly constituencies on Saturday, the …

India’s popular but polarizing leader Narendra Modi is extending his decade in power. Who is he?
7 months, 1 week ago

India’s popular but polarizing leader Narendra Modi is extending his decade in power. Who is he?

Associated Press  

NEW DELHI — India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who claimed victory for his alliance in an election seen as a referendum on his decade in power, is a popular but polarizing leader who has presided over a fast-growing economy while advancing Hindu nationalism. Political analysts say Modi’s victory was driven by social welfare programs that provided benefits from food to …

BJP, INDIA alliance go all out in Purvanchal, including key seat of Varanasi
7 months, 2 weeks ago

BJP, INDIA alliance go all out in Purvanchal, including key seat of Varanasi

The Hindu  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Varanasi seat is among the thirteen Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh going to the polls in the seventh and final phase of the election. In the prestigious Gorakhpur seat, once synonymous with Mr. Adityanath, the sitting BJP MP Ravi Kishan is taking on SP candidate Kajal Nishad. ‘Growth engine of India’ In his campaign, Mr. …

Once a fringe Indian ideology, Hindu nationalism is now mainstream, thanks to Modi’s decade in power
8 months, 4 weeks ago

Once a fringe Indian ideology, Hindu nationalism is now mainstream, thanks to Modi’s decade in power

Associated Press  

AHMEDABAD, India — Hindu nationalism, once a fringe ideology in India, is now mainstream. “He has delivered their goals.” UNITING HINDUS Youth and children participate in Hindu nationalist organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh 's shakha in Ahmedabad, India, April 8, 2024. “Until Modi, the BJP had never won a majority on their own in India’s Parliament,” said Christophe Jaffrelot, an expert …

BJP can’t be trusted, its manifesto is just a pack of lies: Mallikarjun Kharge
9 months ago

BJP can’t be trusted, its manifesto is just a pack of lies: Mallikarjun Kharge

The Hindu  

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge called the ruling Bharatiya Janata party’s manifesto as the “biggest jumla ” and dismissed it as “just empty jugglery of words”. In an exclusive interview with The Hindu, he questioned the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government’s failure to address vital issues and deliver on previous poll promises. Could key figures like Maharashtra’s former Chief Minister …

Varanasi Lok Sabha Election 2024: Congress' UP chief Ajay Rai to take on PM Narendra Modi
9 months, 1 week ago

Varanasi Lok Sabha Election 2024: Congress' UP chief Ajay Rai to take on PM Narendra Modi

India TV News  

With the Lok Sabha elections looming, the Congress party has featured Ajai Rai as their contender from Varanasi for the third time. Electoral history Rai contested against PM Narendra Modi in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, securing the third position on both occasions. PM Modi to contest from Varanasi In a parallel development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is …

Emerging outlines of Opposition’s agenda
9 months, 1 week ago

Emerging outlines of Opposition’s agenda

Hindustan Times  

The Save Democracy rally organised by Opposition parties on March 31 was a significant political development, providing an opportunity for the INDIA bloc to assert itself as a formidable alliance. The rally finally adopted a resolution underlining five key demands: The Election Commission of India should ensure a level playing field for all parties in the Lok Sabha elections; it …

PM Modi takes 'parivar' jibe at INDIA bloc in Varanasi
10 months, 3 weeks ago

PM Modi takes 'parivar' jibe at INDIA bloc in Varanasi

Hindustan Times  

Varanasi: Addressing an event in his parliamentary constituency Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the Opposition's INDIA bloc works for their families, not for the welfare of the people of the country. PM Modi in Varanasi: Yogi Adityanath sharing stage with the prime minister. In the name of the welfare of the poor, these people do politics for …

Right Word | From cultural to spiritual nationalism: PM Modi’s Ayodhya speech marks paradigm shift
11 months, 3 weeks ago

Right Word | From cultural to spiritual nationalism: PM Modi’s Ayodhya speech marks paradigm shift

Firstpost  

“Ram is not fire, Ram is energy. Ram is not just the present, Ram is eternal.” This statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his speech after the consecration of Ram Lalla at Ayodhya on January 22 marks the beginning of India’s journey towards spiritual nationalism. However, Modi’s speech at Ayodhya on January 22 has taken this concept to the …

Narendra Modi is weaving religion, nationalism and welfarism to create winning formula for BJP in 2024
2 years, 2 months ago

Narendra Modi is weaving religion, nationalism and welfarism to create winning formula for BJP in 2024

Firstpost  

Should India sustain a year-on-year economic growth rate of near 7 per cent GDP, it will be a harbinger of a near-certain third term for Narendra Modi as of now On 23 October, as dusk dawned on the holy city of Ayodhya, it was a solemn moment. Add to the above, should India sustain a year-on-year economic growth rate of …

Hindu nationalist surge in India creating fissures in diaspora
2 years, 2 months ago

Hindu nationalist surge in India creating fissures in diaspora

Al Jazeera  

Recent events in the US and violent confrontations between some Hindus and Muslims in England have raised concerns. “If someone is being attacked for their identity, ridiculed or scapegoated because they are Hindu or Muslim, I’m most concerned about their wellbeing – not about who is right or wrong,” he said. “The space to freely express themselves is shrinking for …

India's Religious Polarization Is Seeping Into The US Diaspora
2 years, 2 months ago

India's Religious Polarization Is Seeping Into The US Diaspora

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING In Edison, New Jersey, a bulldozer, which has become a symbol of oppression of India’s Muslim minority, rolled down the street during a parade marking that country’s Independence Day. On the other hand, many Hindu Americans feel vilified and targeted for their views, said Samir Kalra, managing director of the Hindu American Foundation in Washington, D.C. “The …

Ananya Vajpeyi reviews Modi’s India: Hindu Nationalism and the Rise of Ethnic Democracy, by Christophe Jaffrelot
3 years, 1 month ago

Ananya Vajpeyi reviews Modi’s India: Hindu Nationalism and the Rise of Ethnic Democracy, by Christophe Jaffrelot

The Hindu  

From the early 1990s, French political scientist Christophe Jaffrelot has written about Indian politics in the present, catching every wave as it crests. These are: the rise of Hindu nationalism; the explosion of caste politics ; the deteriorating state of the minorities, particularly Muslims; the trajectories of the Pakistani state and the entrenchment of Indo-Pak conflict; the expansion of the …

Wish they understood Gandhi's nationalism: Congress on RSS chief Bhagwat's remark
4 years, 10 months ago

Wish they understood Gandhi's nationalism: Congress on RSS chief Bhagwat's remark

India TV News  

The Congress on Friday attacked the BJP and the Sangh Pariwar over RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's remarks, saying if they would have understood Mahatma Gandhi's nationalism then the need for distancing themselves from nationalism would not have arisen. Now you are saying that nationalism means Hitler's rule and fascism," Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said. "We wish, if the BJP …

India’s Prime Minister Modi pursues politics of Hindu nationalism — what does that mean?
5 years, 7 months ago

India’s Prime Minister Modi pursues politics of Hindu nationalism — what does that mean?

Salon  

Almost immediately after winning a second term in office on May 23, India’s Prime Minister Modi gave a speech making light of parties and individuals who had espoused secularism over the past five years. The creation of the All-India Muslim League caused some serious misgivings on the part of some segments of the Hindu population, leading to their political mobilization …

India’s Prime Minister Modi pursues politics of Hindu nationalism – what does that mean?
5 years, 7 months ago

India’s Prime Minister Modi pursues politics of Hindu nationalism – what does that mean?

Associated Press  

Sumit Ganguly, Indiana University Almost immediately after winning a second term in office on May 23, India’s Prime Minister Modi gave a speech making light of parties and individuals who had espoused secularism over the past five years. The creation of the All-India Muslim League caused some serious misgivings on the part of some segments of the Hindu population, leading …

Narendra Modi’s landslide reelection in India is another win for religious nationalism
5 years, 7 months ago

Narendra Modi’s landslide reelection in India is another win for religious nationalism

LA Times  

Supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party celebrate the results of India’s election Thursday in New Delhi. #VijayiBharat — Narendra Modi May 23, 2019 Modi’s chief opposition, the Indian National Congress, was on track to win barely 50 seats, the second consecutive dismal showing in a national election for what was once India’s most powerful political party. “Modi and Amit …

Nationalism is not the preserve of one party
5 years, 10 months ago

Nationalism is not the preserve of one party

Deccan Chronicle  

Many years ago, while researching the World War II Battle of Kohima, I had travelled to Moreh on the India-Myanmar border in Manipur. A few kilometres from the border checkpost is a small hillock where I was told Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and the Indian National Army had rested before moving towards India. He rightly believed that Indian soldiers joining …

Modi’s Hindu nationalism is stumbling
6 years, 3 months ago

Modi’s Hindu nationalism is stumbling

Al Jazeera  

Hindu nationalism as an electoral strategy can only go that far in India. When Narendra Modi led the Bharatiya Janata Party to victory in the 2014 elections, it was the first time that a party had achieved an outright majority in India’s parliament since 1984. BJP’s shrewd electioneering focused on winning roughly half of India’s constituencies, and emphasised Modi’s personal …

BJP’s Hindu Nationalism Is Aided By Neo-Liberalism
6 years, 5 months ago

BJP’s Hindu Nationalism Is Aided By Neo-Liberalism

The Quint  

The economic policy of the BJP is also distinctively neo-liberal with a focus on trade, industrialisation, and world-class development. Hindu nationalism of the BJP is therefore a curious case of an inward looking, exclusionary social philosophy and an outward looking neoliberal economic philosophy. In a post-colonial society it is nearly impossible to ensure development without opening up economic borders so …

Discover Related