Emergency redefined Indira era ..... Advani's Rath Yatra, Babri demolition and Godhra riots 'redefined' stages of Hindutva ::: Much easier to appear all-powerful when that’s rivals see you

Three different stages should define the journey of Sangh Parivar-led Hindutva politics in India. Let us not presume the days of Jan Sangh though they were equally important and were also crucial in terms of laying the foundation of the goals and keeping the ideological moorings. 

In the era of 1980 -- we take into account the era of the Vajpayee-Advani duo. The events those really brought in the tectonic shifts were -- first L K Advani's Rath Yatra that transformed BJP into an outfit at the national level especially Hindi heartland.

The success of the Rath Yatra politics was immense. The BJP crossed 100 MPs mark in 1991 election and also captured power in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. 

The second important and mega event was demolition of Babri Majid on Dec 6, 1992. 

That showed the aggressive stance of the party and the Parivar. And they did not mind losing out powers in Uttar Pradesh. The sense of hurt was more painful after the Narasimha Rao government went overboard and dismissed all three other state governments - Himachal, MP and Rajasthan. 

The champions of federalism looked the other way and they rejoiced the fall of saffron power - little realising that the tiger will hurt you the most -- when it is hurt. 

At the level of long term impact, the post-Godhra mayhem of 2002 in Gujarat was the third significant development. 

This brought in the talent called Narendra Damodardas Modi and showed the dent the Hindutva politics can make in India. 

The 'moderate' Atal Bihari Vajpayee spoke out -- "Yeh aag kisne lagai ...". 

Did he blame Pakistan or Muslims for the Feb 27, 2002 railway station carnage?   

Today, in 2024 -- Bharat is amid one of the most challenging, exciting and tough elections of our time. 

The BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a target of more than 400 seats in the 543-strong Lok Sabha.

This mandate if materialises on June 4 (2024) will be historic and ensure a  super-majority for Team Mofi and that could allow the Sangh Parivar to push the agenda further.

The RSS leadership and especially Mohan Bhagwat are extremely delighted that Modi is gradually turning India into a Bharat of their dreams -- whether official declaration of a Hindu Rashtra is essential or not need not be debated at all.

Modi has shown that he can get the works done staying within the existing system.

Notably, the Ambedkar-drafted Constitution never had Secularism in its preamble is a vital saga of Indian history. And when weighed in the context of the ideas of three powerful stalwarts Veer Savarkar, Hedgewar and Golwalkar -- this issue will be debated more intensely in the days to come. 

Ironically Socialism has already under focus after Rahul Gandhi and his Congress party have pushed the communist agenda in the garb of poll manifesto.  Interesting times ahead !! 

Shashi Tharoor was elected to the Lok Sabha for the second term from Thiruvananthapuram in 2014 and was one of the 44 Congress MPs to have 'survived' the Modi-wave directed BJP onslaught in the general election.

In a blog written for the Huffington Post, titled "How Narendra Modi May Have Evolved into 'Modi 2.0", Mr Tharoor argued that "it would be churlish not to acknowledge Modi 2.0's inclusive outreach and to welcome his more conciliatory statements and actions." 

"I am neither angry nor offended. (I am) deeply disappointed that an intelligent man like Tharoor should come to such judgements. It demonstrates immaturity that according to Tharoor, we should stop being churlish," Mani Shankar Aiyar told NDTV. 

The Congress, put on the defensive by the unexpected praise for Mr Modi from one of its senior leaders, dismissed Mr Tharoor's comments as his "personal" views. "As a party, it is too early to comment on the functioning of the government," Congress spokesperson Shobha Oza had said.

2014: Tharoor and TMC MP Moon Moon Sen 

This brings us to the debate around 'cult personality' of Narendra Modi and how much difference he has actually brought in the Hindutva politics and India's own prestige.  Today, Indians feel proud of being Indians notwithstanding all round negativism from his detractors and BJP-bashing army. 

BJP leader Swapan Dasgupta credited Modi for implementing a “transformation” over the past 10 years. 

“He has brought about significant assertion of self-confidence in India, a celebration of Indianness if you will,” said Dasgupta. “Also in the past, there was always a squeamishness attached to the idea of asserting yourself to be Hindu. That squeamishness has now been replaced by pride.” (The Guardian) 

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