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139-633: The Ram Rath Yatra was a political and religious rally that lasted from September to October 1990. It was organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its Hindu nationalist affiliates, and led by the then-president of the BJP, L. K. Advani . The purpose of the yatra was to support the agitation, led by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and its affiliates in the Sangh Parivar , to erect

278-474: A Rath Yatra (chariot journey) to Ayodhya in support of the Ram temple movement. According to Guha, the imagery employed by the yatra was "religious, allusive, militant, masculine, and anti-Muslim". Advani was placed under preventive detention on the orders of the then Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav . A large number of kar sevaks (religious volunteers) nonetheless converged at Ayodhya, and some attacked

417-522: A Hindu nationalist ideology. As of January 2024, it is the country's biggest political party in terms of representation in the Parliament of India as well as state legislatures . The party's origins lie in the Bharatiya Jana Sangh , which was founded in 1951 by Indian politician Syama Prasad Mukherjee , after he left Hindu Mahasabha to form a party as the political wing of RSS. After

556-532: A joint session of the Parliament, where the numerical superior Lok Sabha allowed the bill to pass. The act was subsequently used to prosecute hundreds of people accused of terrorism. However, it was criticised by opposition parties and scholars for being an infringement upon civil liberties , and the National Human Rights Commission of India stated that it had been used to target Muslims. It

695-600: A temple to the Hindu deity Rama on the site of the Babri Masjid . The masjid , or mosque, had been built in the city of Ayodhya following the Mughal conquest of the region in 1528. According to hearsay, it was built over a temple dedicated to Rama , and stood on the site of his birth. In the 1980s, the VHP and other Sangh Parivar affiliates began an agitation to build a temple to Rama at

834-512: A Hindu country to the exclusion of other religions, making the BJP a Hindu nationalist party in a general sense. The BJP moderated its stance after the NDA was formed in 1998, due to the presence of parties with a broader set of ideologies. The BJP's Hindutva ideology has been reflected in many of its government policies. It supports the construction of the Ram Mandir temple at the disputed site of

973-470: A coalition; this caused the shelving of the Jana Sangh's more radical agenda. In 1975, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed a state of emergency . The Jana Sangh took part in the widespread protests, with thousands of its members being imprisoned along with other agitators across the country. In 1977, the emergency was withdrawn and general elections were held. The Jana Sangh merged with parties from across

1112-537: A criterion for citizenship under Indian law : it attracted global criticism , and sparked widespread protests that were halted by the COVID-19 pandemic . Counter-demonstrations against the protests developed into the 2020 Delhi riots , caused chiefly by Hindu mobs attacking Muslims. Of the 53 people killed, two-thirds were Muslim. In 2013, the Supreme Court of India reinstated the controversial Section 377 of

1251-451: A day, and Advani often addressed six public rallies in a single day. The yatra caused an outpouring of both religious and militant sentiments among Hindus, and became one of the biggest and greatest mass movements in Indian history. The yatra also triggered religious violence in its wake, with riots in cities across North India. As a result, Advani was arrested by the government of Bihar as

1390-674: A day. The rath passed through about 600 villages in Gujarat, and 50 rallies were held. In the village of Jetpur , Hindu nationalist activists donated a jar full of their own blood to Advani as a symbol of their faith. After Gujarat, the caravan went to Maharashtra, where activist fervour was even stronger because of the support of the Shiv Sena , a radical Hindu nationalist party. The yatra then passed through Telangana (then within Andhra Pradesh), in an attempt to mobilise supporters in an area where

1529-461: A grueling schedule to master the Vedic scriptures ( Vedas and Upanishads ) as well as certain martial arts. In former times, members of the sect had a mandate to provide protection to the followers of Rama and were given rigorous training in archery, swordsmanship, and wrestling. Portions of this curriculum are still observed, though it is more moderate in practice. One of the oldest Math of Nirmohi Akhada

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1668-628: A historian, and stated that the appointment was part of an agenda of cultural nationalism. Over its first term the Modi administration appointed other RSS members to lead universities and research institutions, and recruitment of faculty members favoring the RSS increased. Scholars Nandini Sundar and Kiran Bhatty write that many of these appointees did not possess the qualifications for their positions. The Modi administration also made numerous changes in government-approved history textbooks. These changes de-emphasizing

1807-721: A low figure relative to the number of seats it won. This was the first instance since 1984 of a single party achieving an outright majority in the Indian Parliament and the first time that it achieved a majority in the Lok Sabha on its own strength. Support was concentrated in the Hindi-speaking belt in North-central India. The magnitude of the victory was not predicted by most opinion and exit polls. Political analysts have suggested several reasons for this victory, including

1946-551: A medium-range ballistic missile. They were seen as an attempt to display India's military prowess to the world, and a reflection of anti-Pakistan sentiment within the BJP. The Vajpayee government ordered the Indian armed forces to expel the Pakistani soldiers occupying Kashmir territory, later known as the Kargil War . Although the government was later criticised for the intelligence failures that did not detect Pakistani presence, it

2085-449: A minor presence in parliament until 1967. The Jana Sangh's first major campaign, begun in early 1953, centred on a demand for the complete integration of Jammu and Kashmir into India. Mukherjee was arrested in May 1953 for violating orders from the state government restraining him from entering Kashmir. He died of a heart attack the following month, while still in jail. Mauli Chandra Sharma

2224-537: A more protectionist turn on international trade during his second term, withdrawing from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership talks and introducing the 2020 Atmanirbhar Bharat economic plan, which emphasises national self-sufficiency. Compared to Congress, the BJP takes a more aggressive and nationalistic position on defence policy and terrorism. The Vajpayee-led NDA government carried out nuclear weapons tests and enacted

2363-433: A more aggressive stance on defence and terror and neo-liberal economic policies. In 2001, Bangaru Laxman , then the BJP president, was filmed accepting a bribe in a sting operation . He was compelled to resign and was subsequently prosecuted, eventually being sentenced to four years in prison. On 27 February 2002, a train carrying Hindu pilgrims was burned outside the town of Godhra , killing 59 people. The incident

2502-474: A number of other mosques in Ayodhya. The demolition triggered massive Hindu-Muslim violence across the country, in which more than 2000 people, the majority of them Muslim, were killed. The central government ordered an inquiry into the demolition. The report of the inquiry, written by retired judge Manmohan Singh Liberhan , indicted 68 people for the demolition, including a number of BJP leaders. The people named in

2641-509: A radical shift from BJP orthodoxy while maintaining some aspects of it. Its policy also represented a significant change from the Nehruvian idealism of previous governments, opting instead for realism. His party criticised him for adopting a much more moderate stance with Pakistan. In 1998, he made a landmark visit to Pakistan, and inaugurated the Delhi–Lahore Bus service. Vajpayee signed

2780-598: A significant influence on the BJP's ideology. During the Cold War, the party and its affiliates strongly opposed India's long standing policy of non-alignment , and instead advocated closeness to the United States. In the post-Cold War era, the party has largely embraced the Indian foreign policy consensus of improving relations with the United States, while stressing a desire for a more multipolar world order. The Vajpayee government's foreign policy in many ways represented

2919-473: A strongly neo-liberal agenda, presented as a drive towards development. Its policies have included extensive privatisation of infrastructure and services, as well as a significant rollback of labour and environmental regulations. While this was praised by the business community, commentators criticised it as catering to the BJP's upper-class constituency instead of the poor. The economic policies of Modi's government focused on privatisation and liberalisation of

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3058-616: A symbol of revolt against the British Raj . Lotus is also recognised as the national flower of India . Thus, use of the symbol gives the party a nationalist as well as Hindutva appeal. Besides these, the party also heavily uses the Saffron colour in its promotional materials and campaigning. Similar to Lotus, the Saffron colour also has a major significance within Hinduism. The most common flag used by

3197-414: A temple at the site, the VHP, the BJP, and their affiliates organised a rally outside the mosque on 6 December 1992, involving 150,000 VHP and BJP volunteers. Several BJP leaders, including Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti , spoke at the rally. The crowd gradually grew more restive during the speeches, and began to shout slogans of a militant nature. Although a police cordon had been placed around

3336-491: A temple once stood there. The agitation was on the basis of the belief that the site is the birthplace of Rama, and that a temple had been demolished to construct the mosque. The BJP threw its support behind this campaign and made it a part of their election platform. It won 86 Lok Sabha seats in 1989, a tally which made its support crucial to the National Front government of V. P. Singh . In September 1990, Advani began

3475-620: A temple to Rama in the Ram Chabutra, the area adjacent. The sub-judge held that two large religious structures in close proximity could potentially be a "threat" to public order. Permission was denied by the court, though the Nirmohi Akhara has since kept up its effort to reclaim the land and construct the temple. In 1989, the Nirmohi Akhara filed a lawsuit against the Uttar Pradesh State government, claiming that they had been worshiping

3614-480: A temple. The yatra began at the Hindu holy city of Somnath , and was planned to go through the states of Gujarat , Maharashtra , Andhra Pradesh , Madhya Pradesh , and Bihar , before reaching the city of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. Both Somnath and Ayodhya had political significance to the Hindu nationalist movement, because of their association with the legacy of Muslim invaders and rulers. Ayodhya, in particular,

3753-461: Is a matter of controversy. Numerous historians have stated that there is limited evidence to support the notion that Rama was born at the precise location of the Babri Masjid, or that a temple to Rama once stood at the site. For several centuries after the construction of the mosque, the site was used for religious purposes by both Hindus and Muslims. The first recorded claim that the mosque stood on

3892-459: Is a place of pilgrimage in the Hindu tradition, because it is seen as a site where a devotee may obtain eternal salvation, a belief used to inspire support for the Ram Rath Yatra . Hindu pilgrimages have traditionally been spaces where caste and gender barriers have been broken to a limited extent. Thus the BJP, seeking to unite its electorate, which was divided by caste-based discrimination, found

4031-694: Is a political party in India and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress . Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under the incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi . The BJP is aligned with right-wing politics and has close ideological and organisational links to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a far-right paramilitary organisation . Its policies adhere to Hindutva ,

4170-516: Is a significant range of economic ideologies within the party. In the 1980s, like the Jana Sangh , it reflected the thinking of the RSS and its affiliates. It supported swadeshi (the promotion of indigenous industries and products) and a protectionist export policy. However, it supported internal economic liberalisation , and opposed the state-driven industrialisation favoured by the Congress. During

4309-470: Is considered a holy site. This site is often believed to be located in the city of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh , at the place where the Babri Masjid stood. Historical evidence to support this belief is scarce, and several historians have stated that Ayodhya became a religious centre with a number of temples only in the 18th century AD. Additionally, the location of Ayodhya itself is a matter of dispute, since

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4448-469: Is opposed to same-sex marriage , stating in a legal affidavit that legalizing it would cause "complete havoc with the delicate balance of personal laws in the country" and that it was "not comparable with Indian family unit concept of a husband, wife & children which necessarily presuppose a biological man as 'husband', a biological woman as 'wife' and children born out of union". The BJP's economic policy has changed considerably since its founding. There

4587-548: Is situated at Khanda, Sonipat . Certain adherents have garnered public attention, since 1949, in connection with the Ayodhya debate , when a suit was filed on their behalf to reclaim the disputed site of the Babri Mosque . They have claimed in court that there is no mosque referred to as "Babri Masjid" at the disputed site in Ayodhya. Nirmohi Akhara filed a suit in 1985 with the sub-judge of Ayodhya, seeking consent to construct

4726-449: The 1984 general election , it grew in strength on the back of the movement around Ram Janmabhoomi in Uttar Pradesh . Following victories in several state elections and better performances in national elections, the BJP became the largest political party in the Parliament in 1996; however, it lacked a majority in the lower house of Parliament, and its government, under its then-leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee , lasted for only 13 days. After

4865-531: The 1998 general election , the BJP-led coalition known as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) under prime minister Vajpayee formed a government that lasted for a year. Following fresh elections, the NDA government—again headed by Vajpayee—lasted for a full term in office; this was the first non-Congress government to do so. In the 2004 general election , the NDA suffered an unexpected defeat, and for

5004-477: The 2017 Doklam standoff with China. The Modi government considers national security to be one of their key focuses and has implemented many long-standing defence reforms. In August 2019, the Modi government established the post of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) to ensure better coordination between all three services, a reform that was widely requested after the 1999 Kargil War. The Department of Military Affairs

5143-575: The Ayodhya dispute to unite the Hindu vote by mobilising anti-Muslim sentiment. In order to further this movement, the BJP announced a rath yatra , or "chariot journey" across the country to Ayodhya. The procession was led by L. K. Advani, and involved thousands of kar sevaks , or volunteers, from the Sangh Parivar. The yatra began in Somnath on 25 September 1990, and passed through hundreds of villages and cities. It traveled approximately 300 kilometers

5282-475: The Babri Mosque . This issue was its major poll plank in the 1991 general elections. However, the demolition of the mosque during a BJP rally in 1992 resulted in a backlash against it, leading to a decline of the temple's prominence in its agenda. The education policy of the NDA government reorganised the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and tasked it with extensively revising

5421-542: The Bharatiya Jana Sangh , popularly known as the Jana Sangh, founded by Syama Prasad Mukherjee in 1951 in response to the politics of the dominant National Congress party . It was founded in collaboration with the Hindu nationalist volunteer organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and was widely regarded as the political arm of the RSS. The Jana Sangh's aims included the protection of India's "Hindu" cultural identity, in addition to countering what it perceived to be

5560-467: The Lahore Declaration , which was an attempt to improve Indo-Pakistani relations that deteriorated after the 1998 nuclear tests. However, the presence of Pakistani soldiers and militants in the disputed Kashmir territory was discovered a few months later, causing the 1999 Kargil War . The war ended a couple of months later, with the expulsion of the infiltrators two months later, without any shift in

5699-488: The Line of Control that marked the de facto border between the two countries. Despite the war, Vajpayee continued to display a willingness to engage Pakistan in dialogue. This was not well received among the BJP cadre, who criticised the government for being "weak". This faction of the BJP asserted itself at the post-Kargil Agra summit , preventing any significant deal from being reached. Nirmohi Akhara Nirmohi Akhara

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5838-632: The Prevention of Terrorism Act , which later came under heavy criticism. It also deployed troops to evict infiltrators from Kargil, and supported the United States War on Terror . Although previous Congress governments developed the capability for a nuclear weapons test, the Vajpayee government broke with India's historical strategy of avoiding it and authorised Pokhran-II , a series of five nuclear tests in 1998. The tests came soon after Pakistan tested

5977-669: The Shiv Sena in addition to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Biju Janata Dal . Among these regional parties, the Shiv Sena was the only one that had an ideology similar to the BJP; Amartya Sen , for example, called the coalition an "ad hoc" grouping. The NDA had a majority with outside support from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Vajpayee returned as Prime Minister. However,

6116-426: The Uttar Pradesh assembly. On 6 December 1992, the RSS and its affiliates organised a rally involving more than 100,000 VHP and BJP activists at the site of the mosque. The rally developed into a frenzied attack that ended with the demolition of the mosque . Over the following weeks, waves of violence between Hindus and Muslims erupted all over the country, killing over 2,000 people. The government briefly banned

6255-442: The kar sevaks killed in the fight with security forces on 30 October were cremated, and their ashes carried around the country by the VHP. Hindus were asked to avenge the deaths of the activists, who were described as martyrs. Religious riots followed across the country, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, where mobs of Hindus attacked neighbourhoods dominated by Muslims, as well as individuals visibly identifiable as Muslim. The BJP made

6394-524: The special status given to Jammu and Kashmir . After assembly elections across the country in 1967, the party entered into a coalition with several other parties, including the Swatantra Party and the socialists. It formed governments in various states across the Hindi Belt , including Madhya Pradesh , Bihar and Uttar Pradesh . It was the first time the Jana Sangh held political office, albeit within

6533-420: The yatra passed through that state, and 150,000 of his supporters were also arrested by the government of Uttar Pradesh . Tens of thousands of activists nonetheless reached Ayodhya and attempted to storm the mosque, resulting in a pitched battle with security forces which left 20 dead. These events caused further Hindu-Muslim riots to break out across the country, in which hundreds were killed. Muslims were often

6672-483: The 1996 elections, and later when it was in government, the BJP shifted its stance away from protectionism and towards globalisation . The tenure of the NDA saw an unprecedented influx of foreign companies in India. This was criticised, including by the BJP's affiliates, the RSS and the Swadeshi Jagran Manch: the RSS stated that the BJP was not being true to its swadeshi ideology. The two NDA governments in

6811-455: The Ayodhya agitation a large part of its campaign in the 1991 parliamentary elections , often with the support of the VHP. Its intense campaign drew it a lot of support, particularly campaign funding. The Ram Janmabhoomi issue allowed the BJP to gain significant support in rural areas, whereas it had previously been restricted to support from the urban middle class. Following the Rath Yatra and

6950-511: The BJP government has enacted several priorities of the RSS, including criminalising the practice of triple talaq , and revoking Article 370 of the Constitution of India (which granted autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir ), abrogating its statehood . India has experienced nationwide democratic backsliding under the BJP's rule since 2014 . The name as well as the symbol of the party were selected by

7089-519: The BJP had little electoral strength, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan . The level of popular mobilisation in each state was higher than the press had previously expected, and the yatra began to receive more national news coverage. Slogans coined by the followers included " Garv se kaho, ham Hindu hein! " ("Say with pride that we are Hindus!") An editorial in a national newspaper stated: At every village all along its route ... crowds ranging from hundreds to thousands turned out to see him. In

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7228-520: The BJP in their global network. However, BJP's youth organisation remains a member of the youth wing of the IDU. During Modi's first term as prime minister, the BJP expanded its presence in several states where it had previously been a minor player, and it regained power in other states where it had been in opposition for a considerable period. Assam , Tripura , Arunachal Pradesh , Uttar Pradesh , Bihar , Haryana , and Jammu and Kashmir saw an increase in

7367-461: The BJP won 86 Lok Sabha seats in 1989, a tally which made its support crucial to the National Front government. In August 1990, then-Prime Minister V. P. Singh , acting on the recommendations of the Mandal Commission , decided to introduce a policy of reserving twenty-seven per cent of state level government posts for people from lower castes. The new policy was partially an attempt to trim

7506-537: The BJP's electoral campaigns, while the Modi administration appointed a number of individuals affiliated with the RSS to prominent government positions. In 2014, Yellapragada Sudershan Rao , who had previously been associated with the RSS, became the chairperson of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR). Historians and former members of the ICHR, including those sympathetic to the BJP, questioned his credentials as

7645-535: The BJP's influence, and the party entered government in several of these states. In 2019, the BJP won the general election with an increased majority. Soon after returning to power, on 5 August 2019, the Modi administration revoked the special status, or limited autonomy , granted under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution to Jammu and Kashmir —a region administered by India as a state. This state consists of

7784-454: The BJP, announced the yatra on 12 September 1990. The rath yatra began on 25 September 1990, seeking to capitalise on the massive protests across north India against the reservation bill. The yatra was supposed to be 10,000 kilometres long, and was planned with the intention of converging on Ayodhya and forcing the government to hand over the site to the Hindutva forces for the construction of

7923-456: The Babri Masjid. Although they were intercepted by more security forces, they succeeded in avoiding these, and reached the mosque. There, one volunteer placed a saffron flag on top of the mosque, while other activists attempted to tear the building down using tools such as axes and hammers. The security personnel responded by initially using tear gas to expel the kar sevaks , and later using live ammunition . The kar sevaks were pushed away from

8062-571: The Emergency of 1975–1977, the Jana Sangh merged with several other political parties to form the Janata Party ; it defeated the then-incumbent Indian National Congress in the 1977 general election . After three years in power, the Janata Party dissolved in 1980, with the members of the erstwhile Jana Sangh reconvening to form the modern-day BJP. Although initially unsuccessful—winning only two seats in

8201-497: The Indian Penal Code , which, among other things, criminalises homosexuality. There was a popular outcry, although clerics, including Muslim religious leaders, stated that they supported the verdict. BJP president Rajnath Singh said that the party supported Section 377, because it believed that homosexuality was unnatural, though the party softened the stance after its victory in the 2014 general elections. The Modi government

8340-590: The Indian Prime Minister V. P. Singh authorised Lalu Prasad Yadav , the Chief Minister of Bihar, to arrest Advani as the procession crossed the border with the state of Uttar Pradesh. Advani was placed in preventive custody. Following his imprisonment, Advani was held in the Masanjore Guest House, a luxury government accommodation. After his release, he stated that through the success of the rally,

8479-524: The Jana Sangh remained relatively unchanged, retaining a strong association with the RSS, which did not sit well with the moderate centre-right constituents of the Party. Violence between Hindus and Muslims increased sharply during the years that the Janata Party formed the government, with former Jana Sangha members being implicated in the riots in Aligarh and Jamshedpur in 1978–79. The other major constituents of

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8618-417: The Janata Party demanded that the former Jana Sangh members should dissociate themselves from the RSS, which they refused to do. Eventually, a fragment of the Janata Party broke off to form the Janata Party (Secular) . The Morarji Desai government was reduced to a minority in the Parliament, forcing Desai's resignation. Following a brief period of coalition rule, general elections were held in 1980, in which

8757-547: The Janata Party fared poorly, winning only 31 seats. In April 1980, shortly after the elections, the National Executive Council of the Janata Party banned its members from being 'dual members' of party and the RSS. In response, the former Jana Sangh members left to create a new political party, known as the Bharatiya Janata Party. Although the newly formed BJP was technically distinct from the Jana Sangh,

8896-639: The Lok Sabha, after the Indian National Congress. It captured a majority of the Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, where it also won a majority in the state legislative assembly and formed the government. Muslim votes were divided between the Indian National Congress and the Janata Dal, further helping the BJP. It also was able to win a majority of seats in the state legislatures of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh , and made gains in several other states. Carrying forward their campaign to build

9035-410: The May–June 1991 parliamentary elections , even withstanding the sympathy wave caused by the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi that took place after the first phase of polling. Relative to the 1989 general election , the BJP doubled its percentage of votes nationwide and made gains in states like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in the South and Assam in the Northeast. It emerged as the second largest party in

9174-410: The Nirmohi Akhara received the areas referred to as the Sita Rasoi and Ram Chabutara . However, on 9 November 2019, the Full Bench of the Supreme court, which included the Chief Justice of India, overturned the Verdict of the Allahabad High Court and dismissed the suit filed by the Nirmohi Akhara stating that the suit of the Akhara was time barred and beyond limitation. The Supreme Court ruled that

9313-399: The Rajya Sabha and Sushma Swaraj in the Lok Sabha for the following 5 years. It lost the Karnataka assembly election in 2013. In the 2014 Indian general election , the BJP won 282 seats, leading the NDA to a tally of 336 seats in the 543-seat Lok Sabha. Narendra Modi was sworn in as the 14th prime minister of India on 26 May 2014. The vote share of the BJP was 31% of all votes cast,

9452-405: The Ram Janmabhoomi agitation, the BJP hoped to spread its influence outside this demographic. As a part of its support for the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation, the BJP organised a rath yatra , or "chariot journey" across the country to Ayodhya in 1990. The yatra was led by then-BJP President L. K. Advani . The Sanskrit word Yatra is variously translated as "journey," "procession," or "pilgrimage":

9591-409: The VHP, and many BJP leaders, including Advani were arrested for making inflammatory speeches provoking the demolition. Several historians have said that the demolition was the product of a conspiracy by the Sangh Parivar, and not a spontaneous act. In the parliamentary elections in 1996, the BJP capitalised on the communal polarisation that followed the demolition to win 161 Lok Sabha seats, making it

9730-535: The alliance governs 17 Indian states and union territories. The official ideology of the BJP is integral humanism , first formulated by Deendayal Upadhyaya in 1965. The party advocates social conservatism and a foreign policy centred on nationalist principles. During its first period in national government, the BJP avoided its Hindu nationalist priorities, and focused on a largely liberal economic policy that prioritised globalisation and economic growth over social welfare . Since returning to government in 2014,

9869-451: The appeasement of Muslim people and the country of Pakistan by the Congress party and then-Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru . The RSS loaned several of its leading pracharaks , or full-time workers, to the Jana Sangh to get the new party off the ground. Prominent among these was Deendayal Upadhyaya , who was appointed General Secretary. The Jana Sangh won only three Lok Sabha seats in the first general elections in 1952 . It maintained

10008-435: The arrest of all activists bound for Ayodhya, and 150,000 individuals were jailed. However, a large number of activists succeeded in reaching Ayodhya. Guha estimates this number at 75,000, while Christophe Jaffrelot states that it was 40,000. The town also held 20,000 security personnel, brought there by the state government. On 30 October a large number of activists pushed past the cordon of security officers, and moved towards

10147-569: The associated protests, the BJP withdrew its support to the National Front central government led by V. P. Singh, leading to its collapse. It also prompted the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led Uttar Pradesh state government, in its eagerness to consolidate Muslim votes, to use excessive police force against BJP workers and kar-sevaks , resulting in the alienation of Hindu communities from Singh's Samajwadi party in India's most populous state. This BJP strategy paid rich dividends in

10286-432: The bulk of its rank and file were identical to its predecessor, with Vajpayee being its first president. Historian Ramachandra Guha writes that the early 1980s were marked by a wave of violence between Hindus and Muslims. The BJP initially moderated the Hindu nationalist stance of its predecessor the Jana Sangh to gain a wider appeal, emphasising its links to the Janata Party and the ideology of Gandhian socialism . This

10425-518: The city has shifted slightly over the millennia. Following the Mughal conquest of the region in 1528, a mosque was built in Ayodhya by the Mughal general Mir Baqi , who named it the Babri Masjid after the Mughal emperor Babur . According to hearsay, Baqi destroyed a pre-existing temple of Rama at the site. Limited historical evidence exists to support this theory, and the existence of the temple itself

10564-541: The coalition ruptured in May 1999 when the leader of AIADMK, J. Jayalalithaa , withdrew her support, and fresh elections were held again. On 13 October 1999, without the AIADMK, the NDA won 303 seats in parliament and thus an outright majority. The BJP had its highest-ever tally of 183. Vajpayee became Prime Minister for the third time; Advani became Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister . This NDA government lasted its full term of five years. Its policy agenda included

10703-412: The country's largest unions went on strike, including one affiliated with the BJP. The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh , a constituent of the Sangh Parivar, stated that the underlying motivation of labour reforms favoured corporations over labourers. Modi has been described as taking a more economically populist approach on healthcare and agricultural policy. Modi's government has also been described as taking

10842-411: The country. In 1986, the district magistrate of Ayodhya ordered that the gates be opened once more, and Hindus be allowed access to the shrine. Following its poor performance in the 1984 parliamentary election, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) shifted toward a policy of more hardline Hindu nationalism, and lent its support to the demand that a temple be built at Ayodhya. On the strength of this agitation,

10981-633: The deities installed at a temple at the then disputed site since ancient times, and requesting the Court to hand the management of the temple over to them. On 30 September 2010, a Lucknow panel of three judges of the Allahabad High Court pronounced the verdict on the case, deciding to give a third part of the land to each party, namely the Sunni Waqf Board , Ram-Lalla Deity, and the Nirmohi Akhara. The Ram-Lalla Deity retained its present position and

11120-582: The demolition. He was accused of posting bureaucrats and police officers who would stay silent during the demolition. In 2020, the Supreme Court of India acquitted all of the accused in the demolition including Advani and Joshi. Following the 2019 Supreme Court verdict , the Government of India announced a trust to construct the Mandir. On 22 January 2024, the Ram Mandir was officially opened. Prime Minister Narendra Modi led its consecration, claiming it to be

11259-720: The differential procedures required to protect the cultural identity of the Muslim minority. The BJP favoured, and in 2019 enacted, the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution of India , which granted a greater degree of autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir in recognition of the unusual circumstances surrounding its accession to the Indian Union . It simultaneously abrogated Jammu and Kashmir statehood , reorganizing it into two union territories , Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh . The BJP opposes illegal immigration into India from Bangladesh . The party states that this migration, mostly in

11398-468: The economy, based on a neoliberal framework. Modi liberalised India's foreign direct investment policies, allowing more foreign investment in several industries, including in defence and the railways. Other proposed reforms included making it harder for workers to form unions and easier for employers to hire and fire them; some of these proposals were dropped after protests. The reforms drew strong opposition from unions: on 2 September 2015, eleven of

11537-501: The electoral support of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The core constituency of the BJP were people from upper castes, who had until then held a monopoly over government jobs. The new policy thus fed resentment among the upper-castes, and raised inter-caste tensions in some parts of the country. Mobilising Hindus around the Ayodhya dispute was seen by the BJP as a way to unite its electorate, by creating an issue around which all Hindus could be united against Muslims. This effort tied in well with

11676-417: The founders. The name "Bharatiya Janata Party" literally translates to "Indian People's Party". The Symbol of the party is the flower Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) . Lotus has a cultural significance within India as well as Hinduism . The symbol has been regarded as a symbol of peace and prosperity within Hinduism. Likewise, during the independence movement of India , the symbol was used by Indian nationalist as

11815-491: The government being forced to take action against it. Throughout the yatra , the organisers chose multiple times to defy administrative measures to minimise the impact of it. Sumanta Banerjee stated that the people arrested along the course of the rath yatra had all committed to violating the law. Advani paused the yatra in Delhi for several days, daring the central government to arrest him, which it did not. However, on 23 October

11954-403: The history has been widely described as a right-wing party , but has recently been described as far-right or part of the radical right, a subset of the far-right that does not oppose democracy. The official philosophy of the BJP is " Integral humanism ," a philosophy first formulated by Deendayal Upadhyaya in 1965, who described it as advocating an "indigenous economic model that puts

12093-409: The human being at center stage." It is committed to Hindutva , an ideology articulated by Indian independence activist Vinayak Damodar Savarkar . According to the party, Hindutva is cultural nationalism favouring Indian culture over westernisation , thus it extends to all Indians regardless of religion. Scholars and political analysts describe Hindutva as seeking to redefine India and recast it as

12232-432: The idea of pilgrimage is a significant one in Hindu traditions. The term Rath Yatra refers to a procession involving a rath , or chariot, a frequent occurrence at religious sites. In recent decades, displays of strength by Hindu nationalist groups have often been described as yatras , and the idea of the pilgrimage itself has often been harnessed by Hindu nationalists to mobilise support. The city of Ayodhya, in particular,

12371-471: The idol placed there by three men, together with a large band of supporters. This caused an uproar among Muslim people who used the mosque, and the gates to the mosque were locked on the orders of the state government. In the 1980s a movement led by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) began advocating demolishing the mosque and building a temple there dedicated to Rama, heightening religious tension across

12510-405: The imagery of a pilgrimage useful. Furthermore, pilgrimages or processions frequently involve an assertion of dominance over a physical space, which was also relevant to the Ayodhya dispute; the ultimate aim of the yatra was to support the agitation of the VHP and its Sangh Parivar affiliates to erect a temple to the Hindu deity Rama on the site of the Babri Masjid. Advani, then the president of

12649-737: The larger part of Kashmir which has been the subject of a dispute among India, Pakistan , and China since 1947. Later in 2019, the Modi administration introduced the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 , which was passed by the Parliament of India on 11 December 2019. It amended the Citizenship Act, 1955 by providing a path to Indian citizenship for illegal immigrants of Hindu , Sikh , Buddhist , Jain , Parsi , or Christian religion, who had fled persecution from Pakistan , Bangladesh and Afghanistan before December 2014. Muslims from those countries were not given such eligibility. The act

12788-480: The largest party in parliament. Vajpayee was sworn in as Prime Minister but was unable to attain a majority in the Lok Sabha, forcing the government to resign after 13 days. A 2009 report , authored by Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan , found that 68 people were responsible for the demolition, mostly leaders from the BJP. Among those named were Vajpayee, Advani, and Murli Manohar Joshi . The report also criticised Kalyan Singh , Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh during

12927-475: The leader of the Jana Sangh, was appointed the Minister of External Affairs . The national leadership of the former Jana Sangh consciously renounced its identity, and attempted to integrate with the political culture of the Janata Party, based on Gandhian and Hindu traditionalist principles. Political scientist Christophe Jaffrelot wrote that this proved to be impossible assimilation. The state and local levels of

13066-402: The mosque in preparation for an attack, a young man slipped past the cordon around noon and climbed the mosque itself, waving a saffron flag. The mob took this as a signal to attack and stormed the mosque, bearing hammers and axes. The policemen were outnumbered and unprepared, and fled the scene. The crowd set upon the mosque unopposed, and leveled it within a few hours. Hindu mobs also demolished

13205-400: The mosque, but a pitched battle with security followed, which lasted three days, and led to the death of 20 VHP volunteers. Through the course of the yatra , the participants were frequently aided by the governments of the states they passed through. The procession was often given a police escort, and Uttar Pradesh police force members are thought to have helped some activists gain access to

13344-800: The mosque, which the police were supposed to be protecting. The yatra brought out militant sentiments in the cadre of the BJP, VHP, and Bajrang Dal, and there were several violent clashes along its route. These clashes intensified many-fold after Advani's arrest on 23 October. Riots targeting Muslims occurred in Jaipur , Jodhpur , Ahmedabad , Baroda , Hyderabad , and a few other places. Several hundred people died in these riots, including 130 people in Jaipur between 23 and 31 October. Marxist K. N. Panikkar estimates that 116 communal riots occurred in total between 1 September and 20 November, in which 564 people were killed. Many of these riots occurred in areas that were not on

13483-399: The mosque. Three days of fighting with the paramilitary forces ended with the deaths of several kar sevaks . Hindus were urged by VHP to "take revenge" for these deaths, resulting in riots against Muslims across Uttar Pradesh. The BJP withdrew its support from the V.P. Singh government, leading to fresh general elections. The BJP further increased its tally to 120 seats, and won a majority in

13622-407: The next ten years, the BJP was the principal opposition party. Narendra Modi, then the chief minister of Gujarat , led the party to a landslide victory in the 2014 general election . Modi has since led the NDA government as Indian prime minister, including being re-elected with a sole majority in the 2019 general election and with a coalition in the 2024 general election . As of December 2023,

13761-513: The outer and inner sanctum of the site would belong to the deity itself and would be managed by a Trust formed by the Central Government for that very purpose. the disputed site which was in the receivership of the Government was directed to the handed over to the trust by an appropriate notification. The Central Government was directed to give appropriate representation to the Nirmohi Akhara in

13900-417: The party is predominantly saffron with a stripe of green in the left. Within the Saffron part of the flag, the lotus symbol is also integrated. This particular colour scheme used in the flag assists the party to project itself as a secular party. Meanwhile, this also helps the party to maintain a religious undertone for its core electorate and Hindu nationalistic supporter groups . The BJP's origins lie in

14039-497: The party like Lal Krishna Advani , Murli Manohar Joshi , and Jaswant Singh amongst others were allegedly sidelined. In 2016, the BJP joined the International Democratic Union , a grouping of various centre-right and right-wing political parties across the globe. However, as of 2024, the party is no longer a member, the secretary general of the IDU, Tina Mercep, stated that they would welcome full membership of

14178-462: The party of government in Assam. The Modi administration passed a citizenship law in 2019 which provided a pathway to Indian citizenship for persecuted religious minorities from Afghanistan , Bangladesh and Pakistan who are Hindus , Sikhs , Buddhists , Jains , Parsis or Christians . The law does not grant such eligibility to Muslims . This was first time religion had been overtly used as

14317-440: The people marching with the chariot sang songs and raised slogans that had religious themes. A few people marched with the rath the entire way, but a much larger number attended rallies at each stop. The rath itself was an air-conditioned converted Toyota redesigned to be a chariot. Historian Ramachandra Guha stated that the imagery of the yatra was "religious, allusive, militant, masculine, and anti-Muslim." The yatra itself

14456-411: The period 1998–2004 introduced significant deregulation and privatisation of government-owned enterprises. It also introduced tariff-reducing measures. These reforms built off of the initial economic liberalisation introduced by the P. V. Narasimha Rao-led Congress government in the early 1990s. India's GDP growth increased substantially during the tenure of the NDA. The 2004 campaign slogan India Shining

14595-413: The philosophy of integral humanism , which formed the official doctrine of the party. Younger leaders, such as Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani also became involved with the leadership in this period, with Vajpayee succeeding Upadhyaya as president in 1968. The major themes on the party's agenda during this period were legislating a uniform civil code , banning cow slaughter and abolishing

14734-413: The philosophy of the Sangh Parivar , which professed "cultural nationalism", and believed in the unity of the highly fragmented Hindu population. Since its founding in 1925, supported for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) had been restricted to people of upper castes. The same was true of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh , and its successor, the BJP, which acted as the political wing of the RSS. By supporting

14873-613: The political spectrum, including the Socialist Party , the Congress (O) and the Bharatiya Lok Dal to form the Janata Party, with its main agenda being defeating Indira Gandhi. The Janata Party won a majority in 1977 and formed a government with Morarji Desai as Prime Minister. The former Jana Sangh contributed the largest tally to the Janata Party's parliamentary contingent, with 93 seats or 31% of its strength. Vajpayee , previously

15012-416: The popularity of Modi, and the loss of support for the Congress due to the corruption scandals in its previous term. The BJP was also able to expand its traditionally upper-caste, upper-class support base and received significant support from middle-class and Dalit people, as well as among Other Backward Classes . Its support among Muslims remained low; only 8% of Muslim voters voted for the BJP. The BJP

15151-471: The power of the people had defeated the power of the state. VHP leader Ashok Singhal was also arrested, but managed to escape from police custody within a day. Other activists arrested were often improperly detained, or allowed to escape. Despite Advani's arrest, the kar sevaks or activists accompanying the yatra continued on towards Ayodhya. Mulayam Singh Yadav , the Chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, ordered

15290-545: The present instance. The yatra was flagged off in Somnath with scenes of "frenzied religious sentiments and militant national fervour." Supporters presented Advani with several gifts, including Saffrom flags, a sword, and a bow-and-arrow. Supporters chanted religious hymns as well as battle-cries. The yatra began one of the most significant mass movements in Indian history. Advani covered an average of 300 kilometres (190 mi) per day, and he typically addressed six rallies in

15429-513: The rally, as Advani was presented with bows and arrows, tridents, maces, daggers, and swords. BJP leader Pramod Mahajan stated that "If we are to use all the weapons presented to us, we can liberate the Ram Janmabhoomi in a day," while Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray "threatened to wipe out the 'unholy green' (the color associated with Islam), if the temple construction was obstructed". The yatra caused growing unrest in its wake, resulting in

15568-595: The rally. The report also stated that the demolition was "neither spontaneous nor unplanned". In April 2017, a special Central Bureau of Investigation court framed criminal conspiracy charges against Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi , Uma Bharti , Vinay Katiyar , and several others. In 2020 the court acquitted Advani, Singh, and all 30 others accused. Bharatiya Janata Party ( 4013 MLAs & 23 Vacant) ( 403 MLCs & 23 Vacant) The Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP , [bʱaːɾətiːjə dʒənətaː paːɾʈiː] ; lit.   ' Indian People's Party ' )

15707-425: The report included Advani, Vajpayee, Joshi, and Bharathi, as well as then-Uttar Pradesh-chief minister Kalyan Singh . The report stated that Singh had appointed officers to the area who were less likely to act to prevent the demolition. It stated that the leaders of the BJP could have prevented the demolition if they had chosen to do so, and quoted a security official as saying that provocative speeches had been made at

15846-412: The role of Jawaharlal Nehru , and glorifying that of Modi himself, while also portraying Indian society as harmonious, without conflict or inequity. The BJP supports a uniform civil code , which would apply a common set of personal laws to every citizen regardless of their personal religion, replacing the existing laws which vary by religious community. Historian Yogendra Malik writes that this ignores

15985-596: The route of the yatra , but where religious hatred had nonetheless been triggered by it. The largest number of riots occurred in Uttar Pradesh, where 224 people were killed. According to a research study made by the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies under Nagarik Mancha by B. Rajeshwari, which compiles all the communal riots that broke out in India between 1947 and 2003, in the wake of Advani's rath yatra, nearly 1,800 people died in communal riots in different parts of India in 1990, majority of whom were Muslims. The bodies of

16124-466: The site of Rama's birth was made in 1822. Citing this claim, the Nirmohi Akhara , a Hindu sect, laid claim to the mosque, resulting in inter-communal violence in the period 1853–55. In 1949, an idol of Rama was surreptitiously placed inside the mosque, and an attempt was made to convince devotees that it had appeared miraculously. An official investigation concluded that the mosque had been desecrated and

16263-450: The site, with the BJP lending political support to the movement. In 1990, the government of India led by V. P. Singh decided to implement some of the recommendations of the Mandal commission , and announced that twenty-seven percent of government jobs would be reserved for people from Other Backward Class . This announcement threatened the electoral constituency of the BJP, which decided to use

16402-545: The slogan " India Shining ", which sought to depict it as responsible for a rapid economic transformation of the country. However, the NDA unexpectedly suffered a heavy defeat, winning only 186 seats in the Lok Sabha , compared to the 222 of the Congress and its allies. Manmohan Singh succeeded Vajpayee as Prime Minister as the head of the United Progressive Alliance . The NDA's failure to reach out to rural Indians

16541-530: The start of a new era. The temple is expected to be fully completed by December 2024. A coalition of regional parties formed the government in 1996, but this grouping was short-lived, and mid-term polls were held in 1998. The BJP contested the elections leading a coalition called the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which contained its existing allies like the Samata Party , the Shiromani Akali Dal ,

16680-441: The states of Assam and West Bengal, threatens the security, economy and stability of the country. Academics have pointed out that the BJP refers to Hindu migrants from Bangladesh as refugees, and reserves the term "illegal" for Muslim migrants. Academic Michael Gillan perceived it as an attempt to use an emotive issue to mobilise Hindu sentiment in a region where the party has not been historically successful. The party later became

16819-451: The textbooks used in Indian schools. Various scholars have stated that this revision, especially in the case of history textbooks, was a covert attempt to " saffronise " Indian history. The NDA government introduced Hindu astrology as a subject in college curricula, despite opposition from several leading scientists. Links between the BJP and the RSS grew stronger under the Modi administration. The RSS provided organisational support to

16958-407: The towns they clambered on to roofs to catch a glimpse of the bespectacled man on the ‘Rath’. Advani's speeches during the yatra addressed Hindu nationalist themes. He portrayed the Ayodhya dispute as a fight between Rama and the Mughal emperor Babur, and stated that no Hindu could live in peace until a temple had been built on the site of the Babri Masjid. Militant sentiments were visible throughout

17097-480: The victims of these riots, particularly in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Following these riots, the BJP withdrew its support to the Union government, leading to early parliamentary elections. The BJP made significant gains in these elections, both at the national and the state level, on the back of religious polarisation caused by the yatra . In Hindu tradition, the birthplace of the deity Rama , known as " Ram Janmabhoomi ",

17236-514: The violence, as were police officers who allegedly directed the rioters and gave them lists of Muslim-owned properties. In April 2009, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was appointed by the Supreme Court to investigate and expedite the Gujarat riots cases. In 2012, Modi was cleared of complicity in the violence by the SIT. BJP MLA Maya Kodnani , who later held a cabinet portfolio in the Modi government,

17375-558: Was also established and put under the CDS. The historical stance of the BJP towards foreign policy , like the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, was based on an aggressive Hindu nationalism combined with economic protectionism. The Bharatiya Jana Sangh was founded with the explicit aim of reversing the partition of India ; as a result, its official position was that the existence of Pakistan was illegitimate. This antagonism toward Pakistan remains

17514-421: Was also very successful at mobilizing its supporters and raising voter turnout among them. After winning the election, the organisation of the BJP became more centralised with Modi at the helm. People loyal to Modi were rewarded leadership positions across various states within India. Amit Shah , a close confidant of Modi, was appointed as the president of the BJP in 2014. Contextually, many veteran leaders of

17653-541: Was appointed president of the party, and under him it became the political voice of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. In the early 1980s, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) began a campaign for the construction of a temple dedicated to the Hindu deity Rama at the disputed site of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya . The mosque had been constructed by the Mughal Emperor Babur in 1527. There is a dispute about whether

17792-465: Was based on the party's belief that the free market would bring prosperity to all sectors of society. After its unexpected defeat, commentators said that it was punished for neglecting the needs of the poor and focusing too much on its corporate allies. This shift in the economic policies of the BJP was also visible in state governments, especially in Gujarat, where the BJP held power for 16 years. Modi's government, in power from 2002 to 2014, followed

17931-469: Was convicted of having orchestrated one of the riots and sentenced to 28 years imprisonment; she was later acquitted by the Gujarat High Court . Scholars such as Paul Brass , Martha Nussbaum and Dipankar Gupta have said that there was a high level of state complicity in the incidents. Vajpayee called for early elections in 2004 , six months ahead of schedule. The NDA's campaign was based on

18070-481: Was elected to succeed Mukherjee; however, he was forced out of power by the RSS activists within the party, and the leadership went instead to Upadhyaya. Upadhyay remained the General Secretary until 1967, and worked to build a committed grassroots organisation in the image of the RSS. The party minimised engagement with the public, focusing instead on building its network of propagandists. Upadhyaya also articulated

18209-525: Was established by Ramananda . It is a wealthy sect that owns many temples and mathas in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh , Uttarakhand , Madhya Pradesh , Rajasthan , Gujarat , and Bihar . Members are expected to lead simple and austere lives of celibacy and to accept Rama as their deity. They have renounced the material world for the company of Rama. They are sadhus , Vedic holy men often given to asceticism. New recruits are mainly in their teens and can be from any Indian caste. They are put through

18348-800: Was later repealed by the Congress-led UPA government in 2004. The Modi government has conducted several strikes on territory controlled by neighbouring countries on counterterrorism grounds. This included a 2015 Indian counter-insurgency operation in Myanmar against the National Socialist Council of Nagaland , the 2016 Indian Line of Control strike in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and the 2019 Balakot airstrike in Pakistan. It also militarily intervened in defence of Bhutan during

18487-484: Was preceded by an intense propaganda campaign carried out by volunteers of the Bajrang Dal and the VHP. Along the entire route of the yatra they distributed pamphlets and posters describing the proposed temple, and vilifying Muslims. VHP leaders made speeches in which they stated that Hindus of past years had shown "impotence" in allowing their holy sites to be taken over by Muslims, and asked them to be more aggressive in

18626-485: Was provided as an explanation for its defeat, as was its divisive policy agenda. In May 2008, the BJP won the state elections in Karnataka . This was the first time that the party won assembly elections in any South Indian state. In the 2009 general elections , its strength in the Lok Sabha was reduced to 116 seats. The election campaign would be the final for Advani as leader. The party would be led by Arun Jaitley in

18765-403: Was seen as an attack upon Hindus, and sparked off massive anti-Muslim violence across the state of Gujarat that lasted several weeks. The death toll estimated was as high as 2000, while 150,000 were displaced. Rape, mutilation, and torture were also widespread. The then-Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and several high-ranking government officials were accused of initiating and condoning

18904-461: Was seen as the symbol of Hindu humiliation at the hands of Muslim rulers. Additionally, the BJP wished to draw a parallel between its effort to build a temple in Ayodhya, and the reconstruction of the Somnath temple , undertaken by the Indian National Congress (INC)-led government of India in the 1950s. The imagery of the procession was designed to represent religious themes. The "chariot" was escorted by activists dressed as mythological deities, and

19043-515: Was successful in ousting them from the previously Indian-controlled territory. After the terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament in December 2001, the NDA government passed the Prevention of Terrorism Act . The aim of the act was to improve the government's ability to deal with terrorism. It initially failed to pass in the Rajya Sabha ; therefore, the NDA took the extraordinary step of convening

19182-516: Was the first time religion had been overtly used as a criterion for citizenship under Indian law . A report by the V-Dem Institute described India as experiencing democratic backsliding due to the Modi era . Various other studies and media sources also cite India experiencing democratic backsliding. This is considered the most notable challenge to India's democracy since the authoritarian Emergency years of 1975–77. The party along

19321-434: Was unsuccessful, as it won only two Lok Sabha seats in the elections of 1984 . The assassination of Indira Gandhi a few months earlier resulted in a wave of support for the Congress which won a record tally of 414 seats, contributing to the low number for the BJP. The failure of Vajpayee's moderate strategy led to a shift in the ideology of the party toward a policy of more hardline Hindu nationalism. In 1984, Advani

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