RSS-BJP Reset: Religious Nationalism Intensifies After 2024 Elections
2 months ago

RSS-BJP Reset: Religious Nationalism Intensifies After 2024 Elections

The Hindu  

Published : Jan 23, 2025 20:38 IST - 6 MINS READ The RSS chief, Mohan Bhagwat, has been reported as saying that the consecration of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya on January 22, 2024, should be remembered as the “true independence” of India, a nation that has faced external attacks for centuries. His words also make it entirely possible that some time in the near future, there could be a demand to declare January 22, the date of the pran pratishthaat Ayodhya, a national holiday. Within the Sangh Parivar there is now a view that in the long term, over-dependence on one individual, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is not good for the BJP’s organisational health. But one wonders if the single dominant strategy that the BJP-RSS favours, that of generating even more communal and religious fervour, promoted within the state and by the state, will turn India into a Vishwaguru or if it will actually become a hindrance in the path of its development.

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History of this topic

Delhi Elections 2025: AAP Changes Course as BJP Intensifies Religious Politics
2 months, 2 weeks ago

Delhi Elections 2025: AAP Changes Course as BJP Intensifies Religious Politics

The Hindu  

Published : Jan 09, 2025 23:30 IST - 6 MINS READ In 2015, when Arvind Kejriwal was sworn in as Chief Minister after a historic win, he sang an old Hindi film song at New Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan: “Insaan ka insaan se ho bhaichara, yehi paigham hamara”. When 240 imams protested outside Kejriwal’s residence asking the Delhi government to release …

Maharashtra election results 2024: How RSS campaign shaped BJP-led Mahayuti’s victory
4 months ago

Maharashtra election results 2024: How RSS campaign shaped BJP-led Mahayuti’s victory

The Hindu  

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological backbone of the Bharatiya Janata Party, played a pivotal role in shaping the outcome of the recently concluded Maharashtra Assembly elections. Maharashtra election results 2024 LIVE updates Maharashtra, where the RSS headquarters is in Nagpur — the State’s second capital — holds symbolic and strategic importance for the organisation. While the Mahayuti, the alliance …

Must protect diversity amid RSS bid to implement Hindutva: says Angomcha Bimol Akoijam
7 months, 2 weeks ago

Must protect diversity amid RSS bid to implement Hindutva: says Angomcha Bimol Akoijam

New Indian Express  

KOCHI: India must be a defendant against the hegemony and homogeneous religious and cultural ideology even as the RSS is trying to implement Hindutva which it imagined in 1925 in 2025, said Angomcha Bimol Akoijam, Congress MP from Inner Manipur, here on Sunday. “As a political community and a state, India was born in 1947, bringing together different states. The …

Rebuilding RSS: Sangh Shifts Focus to Grassroots Unity Amid Caste Divisions, Political Challenges
7 months, 3 weeks ago

Rebuilding RSS: Sangh Shifts Focus to Grassroots Unity Amid Caste Divisions, Political Challenges

News 18  

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is resurging and reclaiming control systematically by focusing on organisational coordination among cadre and emphasising on ‘Hindu’ unity. Amid overwhelming caste narratives by the Congress, which it sees as a threat to this unity, senior Sangh leaders are renewing their focus on grassroots organisation and BJP-RSS coordination. In the past one month, the RSS has held …

Decoding RSS chief’s remarks on elections
9 months, 2 weeks ago

Decoding RSS chief’s remarks on elections

Hindustan Times  

In the time of coalition politics, a thousand opinions will bloom. The reduced tally for the BJP in the general elections and its dependence on allies to run the government have encouraged the RSS to take a reflective, but critical, stance on the party’s politics. In this context, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remarks about the polarising election campaign will be …

FROM THE SIDELINES | Results of the 2024 election is a seismic moment for Muslims that restores faith in democracy.
9 months, 2 weeks ago

FROM THE SIDELINES | Results of the 2024 election is a seismic moment for Muslims that restores faith in democracy.

The Hindu  

Published : Jun 10, 2024 15:56 IST - 7 MINS READ “Love has illuminated my body My inner self has brightened My words now have the fragrance of musk” —Kabir, 15th-century poet-philosopher from Varanasi In the past decade, there appeared to be no limits to the exclusion-cum-violence, real and psychological, against India’s Muslims that the Narendra Modi regime and its …

Does RSS help BJP politically? JP Nadda's 'runs itself' reply
10 months, 1 week ago

Does RSS help BJP politically? JP Nadda's 'runs itself' reply

Hindustan Times  

BJP national president Jagat Prakash Nadda said in an interview that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is the party's "ideological front". Replying to a query on how the RSS' presence within the BJP has changed compared to Atal Bihari Vajpayee's era, JP Nadda said the party's structure has become stronger, and now it runs itself. “Shuru mein hum aksham honge, thora …

Once a fringe Indian ideology, Hindu nationalism is now mainstream, thanks to Modi’s decade in power
11 months, 1 week 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 …

Once a fringe Indian ideology, Hindu nationalism is now mainstream
11 months, 1 week ago

Once a fringe Indian ideology, Hindu nationalism is now mainstream

LA Times  

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sandalwood paste and vermilion applied to his forehead during the inauguration of Kashi Vishwanath Dham Corridor, a promenade that connects the Ganges River with the centuries-old temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva in Varanasi, India, in 2021. “Until Modi, the BJP had never won a majority on their own in India’s Parliament,” said …

Hindu Consolidation Done, What’s Next? RSS to Woo Non-Hindus, BJP to Court Estranged Allies - News18
1 year, 1 month ago

Hindu Consolidation Done, What’s Next? RSS to Woo Non-Hindus, BJP to Court Estranged Allies - News18

News 18  

The mission of Hindu consolidation seems to be complete for the RSS-BJP combine as the ideological fountain head of the BJP and the party itself are now concentrating on broader political and social consolidation. Even as the RSS is reaching out to non-Hindu communities like Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains, the BJP seems to be working overtime to get its …

DC Edit | Will BJP win Christian votes?
1 year, 3 months ago

DC Edit | Will BJP win Christian votes?

Deccan Chronicle  

The Prime Minister of the country engaging the minority and marginalised communities on the occasion of their festivals, giving a pep talk and making them feel very much a part of the nation’s agenda are a sign of an inclusive approach and hence Mr Narendra Modi’s outreach to the Christian community leaders at his official residence on Christmas Day is …

Editor’s Note: State elections a bellwether for 2024
1 year, 5 months ago

Editor’s Note: State elections a bellwether for 2024

The Hindu  

Published : Oct 05, 2023 11:00 IST - 4 MINS READ The Election Commission has not yet announced dates for the elections falling due in five States—Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan in the Hindi belt; Mizoram in the north-eastern region; and Telangana in the south. In both Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, the Congress is deplorably peddling soft Hindutva layered with …

News analysis | Not just a numbers game for the BJP in the northeast
2 years ago

News analysis | Not just a numbers game for the BJP in the northeast

The Hindu  

In the ideological sense, the impact of the BJP’s performance in Assembly polls in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland is considered by the party as far more than a numbers game, as it aids the perception of the party being more than one limited to the Hindi heartland, capable of registering victories in minority dominated states and on a developmental plank. …

RSS and North East: Fighting Church and extremist Islamist groups to put in place the India narrative
2 years, 10 months ago

RSS and North East: Fighting Church and extremist Islamist groups to put in place the India narrative

Firstpost  

The people of the region want to join the national mainstream. Last year, there was only one group on dharna in Guwahati demanding statehood, while there used to be 8-10 such groups during every Assembly session The scenario in the North Eastern region has been highly worrying since Independence, with the pitch queered further by the Church, present there for …

All Muslims, Christians Will Associate With RSS Some Day: Karnataka Minister KS Eshwarappa
3 years ago

All Muslims, Christians Will Associate With RSS Some Day: Karnataka Minister KS Eshwarappa

India Today  

Karnataka Minister and senior BJP leader KS Eshwarappa on Thursday claimed that all Muslims and Christians in the country will associate themselves with the RSS, some day in the future. The Rural Development Minister’s statement came during a discussion in the legislative Assembly, when the Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri used the term “Our RSS” and that a day would come …

Assembly poll results and after: Why Muslims and the BJP need to talk, and talk fast
3 years ago

Assembly poll results and after: Why Muslims and the BJP need to talk, and talk fast

Firstpost  

The effort should be to try and strike a balance between minority rights and the majority community’s sensitivities, which it believes have been ignored in the name of secularism In the run-up to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, a distant cousin of mine — an old Congress loyalist — who lives in a small town in eastern Uttar Pradesh, called …

Indresh Kumar sees change in Christians' thinking towards RSS
3 years, 3 months ago

Indresh Kumar sees change in Christians' thinking towards RSS

The Hindu  

Senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader Indresh Kumar on Monday, December 20, 2021, claimed there has been a change in the thinking of the Christian community towards the Sangh over the years as they realised that they did not gain anything by "hating" the outfit. A "new India is taking birth" with the change in the thinking of the Christian community …

BJP aims to reshape India as ‘homogenous’, warns CPI chief
4 years, 3 months ago

BJP aims to reshape India as ‘homogenous’, warns CPI chief

The Hindu  

The ‘RSS-BJP’ government is trying to reshape India and Indian society as a “homogenous monolith,” general secretary of Communist Party of India, D. Raja said in an article in the CPI mouthpiece on the occasion of 95th foundation day of the party. Calling the BJP the political arm of the RSS, Mr. Raja said: “They are trying to create India …

Without RSS, Hindustan wouldn't exist: BJP's Raj chief
5 years, 6 months ago

Without RSS, Hindustan wouldn't exist: BJP's Raj chief

India TV News  

The RSS is not just an institution but a "revolution which has the strength to change country and the world", BJP's newly-appointed Rajasthan unit President Satish Poonia said on Sunday. Hitting out at the Congress, without naming it, he said: "History can't remain hidden and history cannot be confined too. Known as a grass root leader and amongst the favourites …

The RSS is at war with India’s past
5 years, 10 months ago

The RSS is at war with India’s past

The Hindu  

“Beyond a doubt, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is the most powerful organisation in India today. The RSS is at war with India’s past, he says, and is belittling three of the greatest builders of the Indian state, Ashoka, Akbar and Jawaharlal Nehru. We have to unite Hindu society, make it fearless, self-reliant and selfless.” The icon of the secular state …

In 2019, BJP goes back to its old RSS roots
6 years ago

In 2019, BJP goes back to its old RSS roots

Deccan Chronicle  

There is an unmistakable contrast between the atmosphere generated by the BJP-RSS in the Lok Sabha election five years ago, spearheaded by a man who would soon be Prime Minister, and the poll campaign of the ruling side for the Parliament election which is less than a month away. When he was BJP’s candidate for the top job, Mr Modi …

Q&A: Hype against me won't hit my victory prospects, says Mallikarjun Kharge
6 years ago

Q&A: Hype against me won't hit my victory prospects, says Mallikarjun Kharge

Deccan Chronicle  

Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who is fighting his record 12th election, is perhaps facing the toughest battle of his life with the BJP and his political opponents joining hands and drawing up grand plans to beat him. During previous Lok Sabha election, you were on a strong wicket due to factors such as enactment of Article 371, sanctioning of …

Faith and politics
6 years, 5 months ago

Faith and politics

The Hindu  

T he battle for the hearts of Ayyappa devotees aggrieved by the Supreme Court’s verdict on the entry of women of all ages at the Sabarimala temple is also a battle for political space in Kerala for the Bharatiya Janata Party. The plea by a large section of women, who follow this tradition, was not heard,” the chief of the …

RSS muscle-flexing' a bid to re-invent itself?
6 years, 6 months ago

RSS muscle-flexing' a bid to re-invent itself?

Deccan Chronicle  

There is really no need imagine or interpret the message of the September 17-19 event of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh at Vigyan Bhavan, where by and large only functions related to the government or international organisations are held. The Bharatiya Janata Party is in power at the Centre with a bare majority of its own in the Lok Sabha, and …

RSS doesn’t influence functioning of the govt, says Bhagwat
6 years, 6 months ago

RSS doesn’t influence functioning of the govt, says Bhagwat

Live Mint  

New Delhi: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh does not influence the functioning of the Union government, the organization’s sarsanghchalak or chief, Mohan Bhagwat, said on Tuesday. The statement by Bhagwat comes against the backdrop of the RSS, which is the ideological parent of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, facing criticism from various quarters of influencing the functioning of the government. There …

'Who's Rahul Gandhi to decide India's religious systems?': RSS' Indresh Kumar on separate religion for Lingayats, politics and Ayodhya
6 years, 11 months ago

'Who's Rahul Gandhi to decide India's religious systems?': RSS' Indresh Kumar on separate religion for Lingayats, politics and Ayodhya

Firstpost  

Indresh Kumar spoke to Firstpost about his take on triple talaq, Ram janmabhoomi, and politics. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s senior functionary, Indresh Kumar is vehemently opposed to the idea of a separate religion for the Lingayat community. After a group of Lingayat seers urged the community to support Congress in Karnataka elections, Kumar — a margdarshak of RSS-affiliate Muslim Rashtriya Manch …

Democracy In India Part 2: Use of religion by ruling parties overwhelms secular character of Indian State
6 years, 11 months ago

Democracy In India Part 2: Use of religion by ruling parties overwhelms secular character of Indian State

Firstpost  

The Indian State, guided by the Constitution, does aspire to be secular. However, the Congress government’s decision to classify Lingayats as a religious minority in Karnataka, the 3 April decision by the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh to induct five Hindu religious leaders as ministers, the Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s trips to temples and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s overt political …

Engage with BJP on religious nationalism
7 years, 3 months ago

Engage with BJP on religious nationalism

Deccan Chronicle  

The election in Gujarat was a clear win for the Bharatiya Janata Party. The answer is religious nationalism of the sort that the BJP deliberately pushes. But if you are a supporter of religious nationalism, anywhere in India, you will back the BJP. If one removes the element of religious nationalism, one finds that the policies of the BJP are …

Pro-Hindu groups in Tamil Nadu tell BJP not to attend Muslim, Christian functions: Will state voters fall for this?
9 years, 4 months ago

Pro-Hindu groups in Tamil Nadu tell BJP not to attend Muslim, Christian functions: Will state voters fall for this?

Firstpost  

“We are open to being allies of any party that is aligned with our stand on Hindutva,” says Sampath, head of the fringe pro-Hindu outfit. At the launch of the party’s election campaign in the temple town of Palani, in Dindigul district of southern Tamil Nadu, state president Arjun Sampath of Indu Makkal Katchi sings a different tune. “We are …

RSS, BJP meeting in September to take stock of govt functioning, central programmes
9 years, 6 months ago

RSS, BJP meeting in September to take stock of govt functioning, central programmes

Firstpost  

The ruling BJP and its mentor organisation RSS will meet in the first week of September to coordinate on issues related to government functioning and the ground impact of central programmes. New Delhi: The ruling BJP and its mentor organisation RSS will meet in the first week of September to coordinate on issues related to government functioning and the ground …

Religion in India bubbles over into politics
10 years, 2 months ago

Religion in India bubbles over into politics

Associated Press  

NEW DELHI — In small-town northern India, Muslims are offered food and money to convert to Hinduism. Powerful Hindu nationalist leaders — some with close ties to Modi’s government — say they intend to ensure India becomes a completely Hindu nation. “We told him, ‘If there were just two words from your side, prime minister, we would feel so much …

BJP turning to polarisation to serve its political ends
10 years, 3 months ago

BJP turning to polarisation to serve its political ends

Hindustan Times  

The current Rajya Sabha impasse is a reflection of the furious unfolding of the Modi government’s ‘lethal cocktail’ — selling grandiose illusions of ‘prosperity’ through ‘development’ while unleashing rabid communal polarisation. The balloons of development released with great fanfare, however, have been punctured by the ground reality of falling GDP; negative industrial and manufacturing growth; agrarian distress, resulting in declining …

Religious conversion is BJP conspiracy to polarise vote: Tariq Anwar
10 years, 3 months ago

Religious conversion is BJP conspiracy to polarise vote: Tariq Anwar

India TV News  

Patna: Launching a scathing attack on BJP, NCP General Secretary Tariq Anwar today said raking up of religious conversion issue was a “well thought conspiracy” of the saffron party for “polarisation of vote” and divert attention from Union government's “non-performance”. “Raking up issue of religious conversion is a well thought conspiracy of the BJP and RSS to divert attention of …

BJP, RSS spreading communal disharmony through conversions: BSP
10 years, 3 months ago

BJP, RSS spreading communal disharmony through conversions: BSP

Firstpost  

New Delhi: BSP today accused BJP and RSS of spreading communal tension in the country through forced conversions and sought a ban on such outfits saying it was the responsibility of both the Centre and the state government to take stern action against them. BJP and its other organisations like RSS, Bajrang Dal and others, although want to create communal …

RSS offers BJP two-year respite but differences on Centre's policies continue
10 years, 7 months ago

RSS offers BJP two-year respite but differences on Centre's policies continue

Firstpost  

The parent body of the BJP is aware of the huge expectations built up on the government. Bhopal: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh will sustain its Hindutva hardline and the stated position on issues like GM crops, Land Acquisition Act and FDI in defence or retail trade and yet allow the BJP government come to terms with the task of running a …

RSS has no role in government formation: BJP
10 years, 10 months ago

RSS has no role in government formation: BJP

The Hindu  

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday said >RSS has no role in government formation and sought to downplay the ongoing hectic parleys and thronging of its senior leaders to the Sangh headquarters in New Delhi, holding that its leadership is competent enough to take its decisions. Former BJP president Venkaiah Naidu said, RSS is a social organisation which only talks …

RSS asks new govt. to help nation stay united
10 years, 10 months ago

RSS asks new govt. to help nation stay united

The Hindu  

Describing the huge victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Lok Sabha election as a vote for change, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh said on Friday that the new government to be formed now should set aside “ideological, religious and social differences” and create an environment for the nation to stay united. “By setting aside ideological, religious and social differences, …

RSS asks new government to help nation stay united
10 years, 10 months ago

RSS asks new government to help nation stay united

The Hindu  

Describing the huge victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Lok Sabha election as a vote for change, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh said on Friday that the new government to be formed should set aside “ideological, religious and social differences” and create an environment for the nation to stay united. “By setting aside ideological, religious and social differences, we …

BJP forced to rearrange around new power centre
11 years ago

BJP forced to rearrange around new power centre

India TV News  

The country is once again at the crossroads. Its controversial and autocratic prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi is in the eye of a storm, unfazed by senior leaders like Jaswant Singh defying the party leadership's desire of quietly fading away. Politicians must realise when to call it a day rather than being unceremoniously shown the door.The powerful ideologue of the …

Will Modi toe the RSS line?
11 years, 6 months ago

Will Modi toe the RSS line?

India TV News  

New Delhi: Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party cadres burst firecrackers and beat drums to celebrate Narendra Modi's nomination as the party's prime ministerial candidate, it was in the quiet environs of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh headquarters in Nagpur where the mood must have been even more joyous. For the first time since the BJP's formation three decades ago, the …

Karat sees BJP, RSS role in recent communal clashes
11 years, 7 months ago

Karat sees BJP, RSS role in recent communal clashes

The Hindu  

The Communist Party of India will soon start deliberations to forge alliances with non-Congress secular parties for the coming Assembly elections followed by Lok Sabha election. “We have had a very detailed discussion on the political situation and preparations for the Lok Sabha polls in various States and have identified certain States where we can have electoral understanding with non-Congress …

India First - Who is afraid of Narendra Modi's definition of secularism?
12 years ago

India First - Who is afraid of Narendra Modi's definition of secularism?

India TV News  

‘Secularism' basically is a western concept that separates government institutions and functionaries from religious institutions and dignitaries.It basically means that the state has no religion of its own and that it will neither influence religious institutions nor will get influenced by them.The constitution that India adopted post independence did not include ‘secularism' in its Preamble. After the country was partitioned …

Is BJP’s Internal Turmoil Beyond Electoral Defeat?
15 years, 5 months ago

Is BJP’s Internal Turmoil Beyond Electoral Defeat?

The Hindu  

The recent electoral defeat is not the reason for the present turmoil in the Bharatiya Janata Party. The left radicals, Sudheendra Kulkarni and Chandan Mitra, and liberals, Arun Shourie and Yashwant Sinha, among others, flocked to the BJP, convinced that it was the party of the future. This was possibly a result of the conviction that the BJP as a …

COMMUNAL RECIPE
15 years, 5 months ago

COMMUNAL RECIPE

The Hindu  

THE recent electoral defeat is not the reason for the present turmoil in the Bharatiya Janata Party. The left radicals, Sudheendra Kulkarni and Chandan Mitra, and liberals, Arun Shourie and Yashwant Sinha, among others, flocked to the BJP, convinced that it was the party of the future. This was possibly a result of the conviction that the BJP as a …

The BJP's new social bloc
25 years, 4 months ago

The BJP's new social bloc

The Hindu  

An analysis by CSDS based on the electoral outcome and the findings of a nation-wide post-election survey. But between the BJP and its allies, the relative share of the allies goes up as one moves down the social hierarchy from the upper castes to the lower OBCs. Among the two sections of Muslims, the vote share of the Congress and …

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