The New BJP : The Remaking of the World's Largest Political Party

In election after election since 2014, both at the Union and state levels, the BJP has won more often than it has lost―a clear indication of growth beyond its core Hindu base. The question is, why do so many people across divisions of caste, religion and gender vote for a party with unapologetically aggressive Hindutva politics? Are its much-publicised development schemes, whatever their flaws, the big pull factor? Or the active mobilisation of the RSS cadre to its cause? In this fascinating revisionist history, political scientist and journalist Nalin Mehta examines how the BJP became the world’s largest political party. He goes beyond the usual narrative of the party’s Hindutva politics to explain how, under Narendra Modi, it reshaped the Indian polity using its own brand of social engineering. This reconstruction was cleverly powered by new caste coalitions, the claim of a new welfare state that focused on marginalised social groups and the making of a women-voter base. Based on data from three unique indices―the Mehta–Singh Social Index, which studies the caste composition of Indian political parties; the Narad Index, which calculates communication patterns across topics and audiences; and PollNiti, which connects and tallies hundreds of political and economic datasets―The New BJP is full of startling insights into the way both the party and the country function. Previously untapped historical records, exclusive interviews with party leaders and comprehensive reportage from across India provide a fresh understanding of the BJP’s growth areas, including the Northeast and south India. A lucid and objective study of the BJP and India today, this is a book that demands engagement and debate from every side of the political divide. TITLE PAGE 7 COPYRIGHT 8 DEDICATION 9 CONTENTS 10 INTRODUCTION A ‘Jai Sri Ram’ Sticker and a Family Argument: The BJP and a Personal Retracing 12 PART I THE HINDI HEARTLAND LABHARTHEE SAMMELANS, CASTE RE-ENGINEERING, HINDUTVA AND THE WELFARE WHEEL 38 1 THE BJP AS THE PARTY OF THE VILLAGE An Introduction 39 2 BECOMING THE HINDI HEARTLAND’S PREDOMINANT RURAL PARTY 47 3 THE CASTE GAME How the BJP Became the Most Socially Representative Party in UP (Barring Muslims) 64 4 THE BJP’S POLITICAL MOBILISATION OF WELFARE ‘Labharthees’ 108 5 THE BJP’S MUSLIM MODEL Hindutva, the Politics of Exclusion and Why the BJP Still Wins Muslim Seats 129 PART II COMMUNICATION WHAT THE BJP FOCUSES ON AND WHERE IT SPEAKS 155 6 WHAT THE BJP SAYS The Changing Patterns of Its Discourse 156 7 MODI@DIGITAL Why the BJP Wins on Social Media 183 8 HOW THE BJP BECAME THE WORLD’S LARGEST POLITICAL PARTY Organisational Restructuring and the Use of Digital Technologies 227 PART III IDEOLOGY, ECONOMIC THINKING AND GOVERNANCE 285 9 ROOTS OF THE BJP The Jan Sangh Story 286 10 WHEN RIGHT IS LEFT The BJP’s Economic Model in New India 337 PART IV THE UMBILICAL CORD 395 11 THE BJP’S RSS LINK The Foundational Moment 396 12 THE GROWTH OF THE RSS 406 13 What the RSS Says Issues That Matter the Most to the Sangh 429 14 THE SANGH PARIVAR AND EDUCATION Tribal Communities, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram and Christian Missionaries 451 PART V BEYOND THE DOMINANT NARRATIVE THE SOUTH, THE NORTHEAST AND WOMEN 487 15 THE BJP’S SOUTH MODEL The Karnataka Formula 488 16 MERGERS, ACQUISITIONS AND THE ‘EIGHT GODDESSES’ The BJP’s Northeast Push 530 17 THE MAKING OF A NEW WOMEN’S VOTE Gender, Politics and Hindutva 586 CONCLUSION 648 18 ‘PARTY OF RAM’ A Hindu Suratrana, the Idea of ‘New India’ and Its Global Message 649 POSTSCRIPT 683 NOTES 684 APPENDIX 1 876 APPENDIX 2 878 APPENDIX 3 879 APPENDIX 4 Narad Index: A Core Methodology Note 880 APPENDIX 5 884 APPENDIX 6 886 APPENDIX 7 888 APPENDIX 8 890 APPENDIX 9 892 APPENDIX 10 894 APPENDIX 11 The BJP’s Nagaland Foray—Nagaland Legislative Assembly: 1982–2018 896 APPENDIX 12 Nagaland Legislative Assembly Vote Shares of Winning Parties: 1982–2018 897 APPENDIX 13 The BJP in Arunachal—Vote Share of Parties in Assembly Polls (1985–2019) 898 APPENDIX 14 The BJP’s Manipur Advances 899 APPENDIX 15 900 THE BJP A Timeline 903 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 932 In election after election since 2014, both at the Union and state levels, the BJP has won more often than it has losta clear indication of growth beyond its core Hindu base. The question is, why do so many people across divisions of caste, religion and gender vote for a party with unapologetically aggressive Hindutva politics? Are its much-publicised development schemes, whatever their flaws, the big pull factor? Or the active mobilisation of the RSS cadre to its cause? In this fascinating revisionist history, political scientist and journalist Nalin Mehta examines how the BJP became the worlds largest political party. He goes beyond the usual narrative of the partys Hindutva politics to explain how, under Narendra Modi, it reshaped the Indian polity using its own brand of social engineering. This reconstruction was cleverly powered by new caste coalitions, the claim of a new welfare state that focused on marginalised social groups and the making of a women-voter base. Based on data from three unique indicesthe MehtaSingh Social Index, which studies the caste composition of Indian political parties; the Narad Index, which calculates communication patterns across topics and audiences; and PollNiti, which connects and tallies hundreds of political and economic datasets The New BJP is full of startling insights into the way both the party and the country function. Previously untapped historical records, exclusive interviews with party leaders and comprehensive reportage from across India provide a fresh understanding of the BJPs growth areas, including the Northeast and south India. A lucid and objective study of the BJP and India today, this is a book that demands engagement and debate from every side of the political divide.