The BJP and Hindutva

Detail

1. From Jana Sangh to BJP

• Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS): founded in 1951 by Syama Prasad Mookerjee. It was the political wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). It wanted India rebuilt on the lines of Hindu culture [6][7].
• After the Emergency (1975–77): the Jana Sangh merged into the Janata Party. The Janata Party defeated the Congress in 1977.
• Janata breaks up: the Janata coalition fell apart in 1979 [6].
• Former Jana Sangh members left and formed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1980.

• Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L.K. Advani led the new party [6][7].

• First platform, "Gandhian socialism": a mix of Gandhian ideas (decentralisation, meaning power spread to villages and local bodies, and value-based politics), socialist goals and cultural nationalism (the idea that a nation is held together by a shared culture).

• This was a broader platform than the Jana Sangh's.

• The 1984 setback: the BJP won only 2 seats in the 1984 Lok Sabha election. This was the sympathy wave after Indira Gandhi's assassination.

• The shift after 1986:
• The party put nationalism at the centre of its message.

• It used Hindutva to mobilise voters (to bring them together for political action).

• Palampur resolution (1989): the BJP's National Executive met at Palampur (Himachal Pradesh) and formally backed the Ram temple at Ayodhya. This made the temple movement a central BJP plank.

• NCERT Exercise Q5 asks how the BJP rose after the Emergency.

2. BJP Lok Sabha seats, 1984–2024 (verify ECI)

Election	1984	1989	1991	1996	1998	1999	2004	2009	2014	2019	2024
BJP seats	2	85	120	161	182	182	138	116	282	303	240

• What the numbers show:
• 1989–1999: the BJP grew fast, but its seats were not a majority. It needed coalitions. In 1996 it became the single largest party, but its 13-day government fell. The NDA governments of 1998 and 1999 followed.
• 2004 and 2009: the BJP lost ground (138, then 116). The Congress-led UPA ruled.
• 2014: the BJP won 282, the first single-party majority (more than 272 of 543 seats) since 1984.
• 2019: it rose to 303.

• 2024: it fell to 240. That is below a majority, so the BJP again depends on NDA allies, which brings back coalition politics.

• 2024 context: 6 national parties took part. Together they won 63.35% of the total valid votes. Of 3,921 independent candidates, only 7 won [8].

3. Hindutva: meaning and debate

• Hindutva ("Hindu-ness") was popularised by V.D. Savarkar as the basis of Indian nationhood.
• He set it out in the early 1920s, in Hindutva: Who is a Hindu? (1923) [5].

• Savarkar defined a Hindu in ethnic and cultural terms: anyone who shares ancestry and civilisational ties with the Indian subcontinent. This was to form the basis of a Hindu Rashtra (Hindu nation) [5].

• The test of being Indian: an Indian is someone who treats India as both

• pitrubhu (fatherland, the land of one's ancestors), and

• punyabhu (holy land, the land where one's religion was born).

• Organisations most linked to it: the BJP and the RSS [5].

• What supporters say:
• A strong nation needs a united national culture.

• For India, Hindutva supplies that culture.

• What critics say:

• It excludes people whose holy lands lie outside India, such as Muslims and Christians.
• It is majoritarian, meaning the majority community's culture becomes the nation's.

• It conflicts with Indian secularism, under which the state keeps an equal, principled distance from all religions (see secularism).

• Courts on Hindutva: in 1995 election cases under the Representation of the People Act, the Supreme Court described Hindutva as a "way of life" rather than only a religion (verify).

4. The Shah Bano case (1985) and the 1986 Act

• The case: Mohd. Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum (1985).
• Shah Bano was a 62-year-old divorced Muslim woman.

• The Supreme Court granted her maintenance (a regular payment for living costs) from her former husband.

• The reaction:

• Orthodox Muslim leaders called the ruling interference in personal law. Personal law means the religion-based rules on marriage, divorce and inheritance that apply to each community.

• The Rajiv Gandhi government passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986. It nullified the judgment (cancelled its effect).

• Opposition to the Act: women's organisations, many Muslim groups and most intellectuals opposed it.

• BJP's response: it called the Act "appeasement" of minorities, meaning special favours given to win their votes.
• Why it matters: Shah Bano was the first of two developments around 1986 that changed politics. The other was the opening of the locks at Ayodhya. Together they helped the BJP's Hindutva mobilisation.
• NCERT Exercise Q2 matches "personal law and gender justice" with Shah Bano.

5. Later developments: courts, Parliament and the UCC

Year	Development	Key point
2001	Danial Latifi v. Union of India	Upheld the 1986 Act but read it to require a fair and reasonable provision for the wife that goes beyond the iddat period (about three months after divorce)
2017	Shayara Bano v. Union of India	Majority judgment of 22 August 2017 set aside instant triple talaq as violating Article 14 (equality before law) [2]
2019	Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019	Instant triple talaq made void and illegal; husband faces jail of up to 3 years and a fine [2][3]
2024	Uniform Civil Code of Uttarakhand, 2024 (Act No. 3 of 2024)	First state UCC passed after 1950; President's assent on 11 March 2024 [4]

• Triple talaq (talaq-e-biddat): a Muslim man divorced his wife by saying "talaq" three times at once. He did not have to give a reason, and the wife did not have to be present [2].
• Shayara Bano's case: she was from Uttarakhand. Her husband ended their 14-year marriage by instant triple talaq sent in a letter, and he denied her custody of their two children [2].
• The 2019 Act also gives the wife:
• custody of minor children, and
• a subsistence allowance (money to live on) paid by the husband [2][3].

• The government says triple talaq cases fell by 82% within one year of the Act [2].

• Uniform Civil Code (UCC): a single set of civil laws on marriage, divorce, inheritance and adoption for all citizens, whatever their religion.

• Article 44 (a Directive Principle, which guides the state but cannot be enforced in court): the state shall try to secure a UCC throughout India [4].
• Uttarakhand UCC, 2024:
  • It overrides all personal laws on marriage and divorce.
  • It makes registration of marriage compulsory for marriages after it starts.
  • It sets a uniform way for a live-in partner to claim maintenance.
  • It covers Uttarakhand residents even when they live outside the state.
  • It does not apply to Scheduled Tribes [4].

• Law Commission: the 22nd Law Commission asked the public and recognised religious organisations for their views on a UCC (June 2023) [4].

• These steps carry on the 1985–86 debate about gender justice versus religious autonomy (see gender-religion-caste).

Prelims Hooks

• The BJP was formed in 1980 by former Jana Sangh members. The Jana Sangh itself was formed in 1951 by Syama Prasad Mookerjee.
• The BJP's first ideology was "Gandhian socialism", not Hindutva. It won only 2 seats in 1984.
• Palampur resolution (1989): the BJP formally backed the Ram temple.
• Hindutva: Who is a Hindu? (1923) was written by V.D. Savarkar. In it, pitrubhu means fatherland and punyabhu means holy land.
• Shah Bano (1985) dealt with maintenance for a divorced Muslim woman. The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 nullified it.
• Trap: the 1986 Act is "Protection of Rights on Divorce". The 2019 Act is "Protection of Rights on Marriage".
• Shayara Bano (2017) struck down instant triple talaq under Article 14. It was a majority decision, not a unanimous one.
• Article 44 (DPSP) deals with the UCC. Uttarakhand passed the first state UCC (Act No. 3 of 2024), and it excludes Scheduled Tribes.
• BJP seats: 282 (2014), 303 (2019), 240 (2024). In 2024 it lost its single-party majority.

Mains Points

• How the BJP rose (GS-I): the party changed from Gandhian socialism (1980) to Hindutva mobilisation (after 1986). Shah Bano, Ayodhya and the anger over "appeasement" pushed this shift. Its growth from 2 seats to 182 seats through coalitions shows how the Congress system declined and identity politics took its place alongside Mandal.
• Hindutva and secularism: supporters argue that cultural unity makes a nation strong. Critics argue that a pitrubhu–punyabhu test excludes minorities and goes against the equal citizenship in Articles 14–15 and 25. A balanced answer can use the 1995 "way of life" view to show that the term is contested.
• Gender justice versus personal law: the 1986 Act shows how vote-bank politics can override a court's ruling. Danial Latifi and Shayara Bano show the courts bringing back equality through interpretation. A UCC under Article 44 is one way forward, but Uttarakhand's exemption for Scheduled Tribes shows the tension between uniformity and diversity. Reform by consensus is better than imposing it.
• Coalitions return in 2024: after two single-party majorities, the BJP's 240 seats bring back coalition dependence. This affects agenda-setting on contested issues such as the UCC.