End of Hindu nationalism or return of caste politics?
by
Elias Marini Schäfer
Lessons from the Indian parliamentary elections
In the wake of the Indian parliamentary elections, a number of German media outlets saw the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) loss of its parliamentary majority as a victory for democracy and a sign of the Indian population's resistance to Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalism. Headlines included slogans such as: "India decides against Hindu nationalism and authoritarian tendencies” and “Democracy won instead of Modi”. But did the voters really turn against the Hindutva ideology of the BJP? Has the BJP overplayed its Hindu nationalist card? This article attempts to find answers to these questions and explain why the general election result was much more than a vote against Hindutva and perceived authoritarian tendencies.
