On June 10, 2026 PM Narendra Modi will become India’s longest-serving democratically elected Prime Minister.
This would not have been possible without strong Hindutva push.
Jawaharlal Nehru was always shy about this 'Hindu cultural supremacy'.
Under Modi, India becomes unapologetically Hindu
Narendra Modi (left) with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and other dignitaries performing rituals to launch the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya in August 2020.
It's true, Narendra Modi remained a dedicated disciple and priest of promoting Hindutva.
He presented a vision of 'Hindu cultural supremacy' that in some-ways sidelined the country’s 300 m minority population especially Muslims.
But the majority did not disapprove this either.
Not to forget, as chief minister of Gujarat, Modi was a firebrand Hindutva campaigner. In 2002, anti-Muslim riots in his state after the Godhra train mayhem killed at least 1,000 people.
This might have resulted in the future prime minister becoming an international pariah who was banned from entering the US in 2007.
Modi did not stop at that.
He presented himself as an 'outsider' in Delhi's "jugadu circle' being attacked by elites: a refrain that would become a central part of his political messaging.
In more ways than one, she was constantly targeted. Sonia Gandhi had called him a 'merchant of death (Maut Ka Saudagar)'.
Modi gave his spin and fought back with back on the wall. His admirers saw in him a 'self image' and a symbol of the 'underdog' --
as "somebody" who is against the status quo forces in Delhi and who is against those who are against Bharat and its religion (Hindu) and the Indian culture.
Things were changed so much and that during his visit to White House, President Barack Obama received him with the Gujarati salutation 'Kem chho'.
The times and Congress scandals too came to suit Modi. When popular disgust at corruption scandals plaguing the UPA regime boiled over into street protests in 2011 in the form of Anna Hazare projest, a new stage was being created.
This provided the rightwing populist leader (Namo) a national springboard.
Modi was soon at the "forefront of projecting" a strong, centralised leadership. He said Indian PM should have a chest of 56 inch.
This was a direct rejection of meekness image of Manmohan Singh -- someone whose Ordinance was subjected to public humiliation by Rahul Gandhi.
Milan Vaishnav, the director of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, commented -- “Modi realised what people are looking for is somebody who gets stuff done.”
There were other related articles and stories in newspapers, magazines and websites. The social media was always active.
Ram Temple in Ayodhya by 2019 November after the favourable Supreme Court verdict was projected as a Milestone in itself -- that would reshape India beyond electoral politics.
There was another version that the emergence of political Hindutva 'unsettled' Muslim and Christian minorities. However, Modi won elections after elections including a tough one - that was 2024. His party's seats declined from 303 to 240 - but the ruling alliance won rather convincingly.
Narendra Modi’s BJP and its parent organization, the RSS, have been keen on reviving political Hinduism for decades now.
The Hindutva ideology has been associated with rightwing extremism and fascism due to the purist racial elements of the movement and its association with intolerance of minorities,
It got that so-called 'real fillip' in 2014 when Modi became prime minister. And he was hardly shy about Hinduism or the Hindutva agenda. Narendra Modi was also not bothered by the burden of the question, "what will people say (Log Kya Kahenge)".
For reference; Hindutva – as a term was coined in the 1920s in the writings of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar meaning “Hindu-ness”. It is even endorsed by the highest court of the land as a way of Life.
In simpler terms; it is the predominant form of Hindu nationalism in India. Hindutva is the belief in the hegemony of Hinduism in India and the establishment of the country as a Hindu.
It will not encourage the Nehruvian Secularism - which is a form of fundamentalism itself. We may call it SICULARISM.
Moreover, Hindus are viewed more as an ethnic, rather than religious group.
In a meeting in 2014 (within months Narendra Modi was PM); HRD Minister Smriti Irani was told by Suresh Soni and a few other RSS ideologues that the ideology hold must be strengthened on the BJP and crucial government departments.
It was argued that the “Congress suffered” immensely in terms of people's perception and a party’s value system and principles because - it was influenced and guided by ministers. Under Modi, hence it was a deliberate decision that the BJP and RSS should continue to “guide” the ministers and even prescribe “Dos and Don’ts” for critical ministries.
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