Soft Hindutva

Breather for BJP as RSS eases pressure over Ayodhya issue ahead of polls; by reining in VHP, Sangh prioritises elections over Ram

Until the VHP announced its decision, the BJP was under pressure going into the elections — many of its supporters assumed that because the saffron party got an absolute majority, now was the time their dream of a grand temple would be fulfilled.

BJP has ensured cow protection becomes universal brand of politics; Congress-led govt invoking NSA in MP a typical example

The cow has turned into a potent political totem, much like the seasonal iftar photo-ops, ever since BJP graduated from Ram mandir politics to gau mata politics.

Narendra Modi government's plea on undisputed land in Ayodhya threatens to stump Congress again

Mere months before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP seems to have unleashed their oldest lethal weapon in the form of a writ petition in the Supreme Court requesting it to release the "excess vacant land" around the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site, something that puts the Congress on the backfoot.

Exit poll results: Madhya Pradesh remains bellwether, likely to give Congress anxious moments on 11 Dec

Though exit polls predict Congress win in Rajasthan, the party will be waiting anxiously for the Madhya Pradesh election results as a victory in the state will give the party some indication of the trends in 2019, and whether or not soft Hindutva will work next year

TM Krishna concert and why it failed to arouse Delhi to create its own 'hum dekhenge' moment of mass defiance

On Saturday, when TM Krishna performed at the Garden of Five Senses, Delhi had its tryst with what could have been India’s Hum Dekhenge moment

Madhya Pradesh polls 2018: Congress' cynical manifesto for state threatens to push India's polity farther Right

The promises in the Congress manifesto for Madhya Pradesh should belie the expectations of all those who had hoped that it would provide an alternative frame to the BJP's idea of Hinduism

RS Surjewala has negated Congress' age-old 'secular' claim by saying party has 'Brahmin DNA in its blood'

RS Surjewala said Congress had Brahmin DNA in its blood and made "gods and demons" comparisons between Rahul Gandhi and BJP leaders.

Ram Navami celebrations in Bengal: TMC move to hijack BJP event shows changing definition of 'secularism'

If we look at the political discourse leading up to the 2016 Assembly elections, the focus was on unabashed minorityism and the TMC chief was quite explicit in wooing the 'votebank'.

Karnataka Assembly polls: Despite risks, allying with Asaduddin Owaisi would serve HD Deve Gowda well, raise his prospects as kingmaker

Asaduddin Owaisi could provide the Deve Gowda-led Third Front in Karnataka a strong Muslim face and prevent the 13 percent Muslim votes from falling in Congress' kitty

Karnataka polls 2018: Congress has a local mascot in Siddaramaiah, but caste alone may not be sufficient to win the state

Siddaramaiah is not a mass leader, but his paroxysms of rage against BJP and Hindutva have made him a household name in Karnataka