Le Gujarat de Narendra Modi: les lecons d'une victoire electorale
In: Critique internationale: revue comparative de sciences sociales, Heft 3, S. 9-25
ISSN: 1149-9818, 1290-7839
Narenda Modi's triumph for the BJP (Indian People's Party) during the regional elections of 2007 strengthened the hold of Hindu nationalism in this state. As long as Modi & the local Congress leaders occupied front stage, the election campaign was dominated by economic development & governance issues, given that Congress hesitated to attack Modi over the anti-Muslim pogroms of 2002. However, the campaign tours of national Congress leaders such as Sonia Gandhi brought this issue back to the fore, to the delight of Modi who reacted by posing as defender of law & order it in the face of the Muslim threat. Modi's Hindu national hostility is, however, merely his most salient trait. It is blended with a form of high-tech populism, a strong personality cult, a definite authoritarianism & constant praise for managerial governance. This combination has rallied around Modi the business world & the new middle class, whose anti-parliamentarianism is tending to spread elsewhere in India. The Modi phenomenon -- an atypical within the BJP where individuals usually take a back seat to organizations -- could well hail a transformation in the Hindu nationalist movement, even in Indian politics. Adapted from the source document.