Gujarat 2022 Elections: Explaining BJP’s Hegemony

Abstract

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) victory in the 2022 Gujarat state elections not only broke a record but also reversed the trend that was resulting in Congress’ growing effectiveness election after election. This time, the Congress registered its worse performance ever, largely because of the entry of a new player, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), but also because of the progress of the BJP. The ruling party is stronger than ever because of its ideology, its organization and, more importantly, its leader, Narendra Modi. These assets allow the BJP to get support across caste, classes and sub-regions like never before. Its rise, however, challenges democracy in different ways, not only its ‘OBCisation’ is not a synonym of plebeinization in terms of class, but its strategy of equating religious majority and political majority and to systematically undermine the opposition tends to make the BJP ‘the only game in town’.