4the nature of Indian state, democracy and society.
Contrary to 2014, which was widely perceived as
the victory of ‘Modi; the icon of development’, this
year’s election verdict is clearly in favour of Hin-
dutva as BJP’s campaign consciously underplayed
the ‘development rhetoric’ and explicitly used the
discourses of aggressive Hindu Nationalism in
various degrees. Hindutva formations have now
made its influence into all spheres and territo-
ries of Indian social and political life. Its victory
is also, in turn, the defeat and retreat of various
socio-political currents that hitherto constituted
and dominated Indian political systems such as
the centrist politics of Congress, regionalist poli-
tics of various state parties, the identity politics
of various Dalit and backward class parties and
the working class politics of communist parties.
The rise of Hindutva has gravely transformed
the character of the centrist politics that con-
gress conventionally carried out. Congress has
internalised various majoritarian and right-
wing currents in order to compete with the
far-right politics of Hindutva. In other words,
Congress’s adoption of neoliberal economic
policies and the consistent betrayal of secu-
lar principles for electoral gains has not just
opened up room for majoritarian trends but
has permanently changed the character of Con-
gress itself. As Congress ceased to have alterna-
tives for both Hindutva and neoliberalism, it re-
ceived an expected defeat from the hands of BJP.
The defeat of the regional parties in this election
has also need to be examined seriously. Regional
parties have dominated Indian politics since the
decline of ‘congress system’ in the 1970s and were
instrumental in sustaining the federal nature of
Indian politics. The return of one-party domi-
nance system and the decline of regional parties
like TMC, TDP, SP, RJD and JDS etc. has two
major consequences. The regional parties’ fall is
part of the ongoing process of homogenisation
of Indian polity. This will eventually result in the
non-redressal of our multicultural question as its
representatives fail to find spaces in the country’s
legislative bodies. Secondly, it will have an adverse
effect on India’s federal character. The recent in-
terventions on finance commission, introduc-
tion of GST etc. are indications of how the domi-
nance of a polity wide far-right party like BJP can
challenge the federal nature of India’s Republic.
The defeat of various Dalit and backward iden-
tity political parties is also very crucial for mak-
ing sense of the new phase of Indian politics. De-
spite various mobilisation against Dalit atrocities
during the last five years, a large section of the
Dalit and backward castes have voted in favour
of BJP. The fragmented nature of the Dalit and
backward electorate and the massive organisa-
tional presence of Sanghparivar among these
populations has resulted in this paradoxical con-
dition. As Badri Narayan observed, ‘Ambedka-
rism in India as a unifying factor has confined
mostly among educated and employed middle-
class Dalitsi. Apart from this, BJP has made con-
siderable inroads into the marginalised sections
through various social welfare strategies carried
out by its affiliates such as the Seva Bharti and
VKA and also through a process of construction
of an overarching Hindu identity by effectively
postponing the question of caste-inequality.
The Left in India has experienced an unprec-This year’s election
verdict is clearly in favour
of Hindutva as BJP’s
campaign consciously
underplayed the
‘development rhetoric’
and explicitly used the
discourses of
aggressive Hindu
Nationalism in
various degrees.
Student Struggle | June - July 2019