The BJP’s staggering win in UP is supposedly the result of a message of Hindutva plus economic aspiration. Hindu consolidation by the Sangh on the ground and economic aspiration embodied by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the winning formula. Modi in Delhi, Yogi in Lucknow is the slogan. As MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi puts it, with ‘development’ as username and ‘hindutva’ as password logging in to massive mandates becomes automatic.
But can Hindutva deliver development in the long run? Modi ran a ‘Hindutva plus development’ model in Gujarat for 12 years but as the Hardik Patel agitation shows the state still suffers endemic unemployment. Academic Pranab Bardhan writes Gujarat was a model of growth but not job creation, because Gujarat welcomed Read More
