ASSESSMENTS

India's Prime Minister Faces Opposition Within His Own Party

Dec 21, 2014 | 13:57 GMT

India's Prime Minister Faces Opposition Within His Own Party
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivers a campaign speech during a rally in India's Jharkhand state on Dec. 9.

(STRDEL/AFP/Getty Images)

Summary

India's political establishment has been swept up in a far-reaching controversy over remarks made by members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government regarding the Hindu nature of the Indian state. India has officially been a secular democracy since gaining independence in 1947. Freedom of religion in the country, guaranteed by the 1950 constitution, has been instrumental in maintaining relations between Hindus and India's significant Muslim population — one of the world's largest — and a diverse group of religious minorities. However, many of Modi's Cabinet members and closest supporters — and even Modi himself — are affiliated with the Sangh Parivar, a loose collection of right-wing organizations supporting the concept of Hindutva, or Hindu nationalism. The Modi administration's reliance on its core base of Hindutva supporters will limit how far the prime minister can go in reining in these elements of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), even at the risk of instigating communal violence and galvanizing political opposition.

However, the biggest risks posed by the ruling party's split in focus over pursuing a Hindu nationalist agenda are not necessarily communal violence (which remains a possibility), but complications for Modi's ambitious economic agenda. Six months after landmark parliamentary elections swept Modi into office, challenges to his reform campaigns are coming not from traditional opposition parties but from within his own support base. BJP's majority in parliament is so large, and the views expressed so diverse, that the prime minister must first work to unify his own party before grappling with opposition groups and India's powerful state governments. This work will delay the implementation of any meaningful reforms. 

Hindu nationalism is one of several issues dividing India's ruling party and making it more difficult for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to enact economic reforms. ...

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