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Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit

ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures

Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story

More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice

Next epic election will be UP 2027. Akhilesh Yadav is hardly ready for Yogi Adityanath

With his friends MK Stalin and Mamata Banerjee voted out, Akhilesh will have to do far more than his usual ‘Muslim plus Yadav’ formula politics.

The story of Indian politics over the past decade is, at one level, a story of consolidation of good governance with Hindu nationalism, and of an electorate that is increasingly impatient with ambiguity.

From the Ram Temple in Ayodhya to the redevelopment of sacred corridors in Kedarnath and Kashi, the public expression of civilisational identity has moved decisively into the political mainstream. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi carries the Bhagavad Gita into diplomatic exchanges across the globe, it is read not merely as symbolism but as a statement of cultural confidence.

This changing landscape has posed a complex challenge for non-BJP leaders across states, who ran their politics on minority appeasement and dividing Hindus into castes.

In Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin and his father lead a political tradition of Dravidian politics which stood on an anti-Sanatana, anti-Hindi and seemingly anti-North narrative. His son Udhayanidhi Stalin went on to compare Sanatana with dengue and malaria.

In West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee has brazenly followed Muslim appeasement at the cost of her Hindu electorate. In 2017, she restricted the immersion of Durga idols during Muharram, which saw the intervention of the Calcutta High Court. Chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ had riled her beyond imagination.

The electoral consequences are beginning to show in varying degrees across regions. The Opposition’s long-standing reliance on coalition arithmetic—of caste........

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