The Bharatiya Janata Party of India

In: Government & opposition: an international journal of comparative politics, Band 28, Heft 1, S. 36-50

Abstract

Observers of The Indian Political Scene Have Been puzzled by the performance and prospects of the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest opposition group in the central legislature in New Delhi, and forms the government in four northern states, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. The elements of opposition and government have taken new shape; and the rise of the BJP, say critics, constitutes a challenge not simply to Congress but to the Nehru-established state and its secular democratic inheritance. Its leaders couch their appeal in relation to the religious sentiments of the Hindu majority of India and they talk not only of roti but Ram — the bread of life itself. 'Away with the "pseudo-secularism" of Western values: India must rediscover its past.' Such is the simple message of the Hindutva party and its allies. It is an old theme but opponents and supporters alike believe that the 119 seats which the BJP now has in the Lok Sabha (India's lower house) give the demand for fundamental reform a new political force.