Hindu Populism and the Rise of the BJP

This study takes the political transformation of India during the 1980s as its starting point, a period that marked the shift from the long-standing dominance of the Indian National Congress to the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It aims to explore how India gradually transitioned from a constitutionally defined secular state to a political order increasingly oriented toward Hinduism. Using populism as the core theoretical framework, this paper analyzes how the BJP strategically constructed a binary opposition between the “political elite,” represented by the Congress Party, and the “common people,” and how it employed religious symbols, sacred imagery, and Hindu cultural narratives to mobilize mass support. By linking religious identity with political mobilization, the BJP successfully expanded its social base, attracting upper-caste groups, segments of the middle class, and sections of the female electorate. This paper argues that the BJP's rise was not merely a political realignment, but a fundamental shift that profoundly transformed the ideological landscape of Indian politics. The party’s populist mobilization, rooted in Hindu identity, laid the foundation for the politicization of religion and accelerated the broader rightward shift in India’s political order. Through this analysis, the study re-examines the BJP’s path to power and its profound impact on the trajectory of contemporary Indian politics, uncovering the historical roots of India’s current rightward turn.