What Lies Beneath the Successes of Hindutva: Reading the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022

Abstract

What explains the success of the Bhartiya Janta Party in the 18th Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha election? Hindutva gets the due credit but the socio-political dynamics beneath Hindutva is often sidelined in political discussions. What makes Hindutva appealing? Is Hindutva a fixed ideology or an ever-evolving one? How does Hindutva correspond with the lived realities of people? How does Hindutva plug the alternative discourse of Social Justice? How does Hindutva redefine Dalit politics? While exploring these questions, the article seeks to shift the discourse from the site of culture-identity-ideology to the site of social and political-economic changes. While tracking the trajectory and nature of Hindutva politics, the article also indicates some of the trends that emerged during this election. Based on qualitative data, the article argues that it was essentially the dynamic nature of Hindutva that outwitted social justice politics.