The Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics: 1925 to the 1990s : Strategies of Identity-building, Implantation and Mobilisation (with Special Reference to Central India)

The violent campaign to erect a temple to Lord Ram on a site occupied by a mosque in the north Indian city of Ayodhya is only the latest manifestation of extreme Hindu nationalism. Hindu chauvinists argue that India's Hindu heritage was usurped by the secular idealism of the Nehru dynasty and their pandering to the interests of minorities, above all the 120 million Muslims. In the 1991 general election the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), the principal political vehicle for Hindu militancy, won some notable victories and became the largest opposition party in parliament.