Ramraksha: Ram-ifying the Society and Modi-fying the State 165anguish. All (citizens) were healthy and handsome. There was no pov-
erty, misery or humiliation. Nor was there any ignorance or ignominy."^51
Among other issues, Ayodhya figured prominently in the BJP manifesto.
Dividing the Indian polity into "anti-temple forces" and their own Ayod-
hya movement, "the biggest mass movement in the history of indepen-
dent India," the manifesto claimed that the 1991 election was a "virtual
referendum on Ram Janmabhoomi" issue that they had won by promis-
ing the temple construction.^52 According to the manifesto, on December 6,
1992, "matters took an unexpected turn when, angered by the obstructive
tactics of the Narasimha Rao government, inordinate judicial delays and
pseudo-secularist taunts, the karsevaks took matters into their own hands,
demolished the disputed structure and constructed a makeshift temple for
Lord Rama at the garbha griha/'^53
The manifesto claimed further, "Owning responsibility for its inability
to prevent the demolition," the BJP government in UP resigned. With this
apologetic and evasive explanation, the BJP sought "a positive mandate
for its programme and policies."^54 The mandate they eventually received
clearly indicated the disapproval of the majority of the people in the Hindi-
Urdu heartland.^55 The BJP was denied a "positive mandate" in the 1993
elections and won only 176 seats in UP as opposed to 211 in the 1991 polls.
In MP, the party won just 116 seats as opposed to 219 seats in 1990. In HP,
the BJP won 8 seats compared to the 44 seats it won in the 1990 elections.
The BJP leaders had exhorted the voters in these states to decide if the
December 6 vandalism was an exhibition of "national shame" or an act
of "national pride." They also gave a victory cry to the masses, "Aaj chaar
pradesh, kal sara desh" (Victory in four states today, the rest of the country
tomorrow). Despite all the rhetoric, the people decisively rejected the BJP.
There was a noticeable swing away from extremism in the rural areas on
account of the inappropriate politicization of Ram, the impact of violence
on economic growth, and the unwanted strengthening of the local police
forces.^56 In another round of state elections in November-December 1994,
the BJP won only two seats in Andhra Pradesh, as opposed to the five
seats they had in 1989. In Karnataka, they improved their position from 4
in 1989 to 40 in 1994.
In the March 1995 state elections, the BJP pulled itself together in Gujarat
and Maharashtra (in alliance with Shiv Sena), but lost Bihar and Orissa.
However, in the following local elections in UP, the BJP captured 70 per-
cent of the seats in the 11 municipal corporations and 8 of the mayoral
seats, as well as 114 of the 196 chairperson's seats in the Nagar Palika
Parishads (city boards) and 97 of the 418 seats in the Nagar Panchayats
(town areas). The independent candidates won 60 percent and 75 percent
of the seats respectively in the above bodies, capturing the political space
vacated by the SP and BSP alliance. The BJP did not make any inroads into
the social segments such as the Dalits, the "backward" castes, the working