Why BJP Became Only Option For Hindu Nationalists

The assassination of Mahatama Gandhi by Nathuram Godse also killed the singular hope of having any political party of Hindus having the explicit objective of establishing a Hindu state. Hindu Mahasabha, which was later acquitted from all the charges of conspiring the murder of Mahatma Gandhi although Godse was an active member of Hindu Mahasabha. After the assassination of Gandhi, the offices of Hindu Mahasabha were forcibly closed, active crackdown by the Indian state on HMS launched and the attack on the house of president of Hindu Mahasabha too.

After the assassination of Gandhi, the offices of Hindu Mahasabha were forcibly closed, active crackdown by the Indian state on HMS launched and the attack on the house of president of Hindu Mahasabha too.

The acquittal by the court had little consequence however in establishing the legitimacy of Hindu Mahasabha. The leaders started deserting the party with Shyama Prasad Mukherjee joining Congress and later Bhartiya Jan Sangh while Savarkar was too old and sick to reinvigorate the discredited party. Hindu Mahasabha understood the fundamental fact that a Hindu nation doesn't entail any tangible gain for Hindus, but a Hindu state based on the Hindu polity is what Hindus essentially require.

The vacuum created by Hindu Mahasabha was subsequently filled by the rise of Bhartiya Jan Sangh. Although, BJS was never as straightforward and clear headed about its polity as HMS was. The confusion among the ranks of BJS was further aggravated by Deendayal Upadhyay's Integral Humanism which is the last philosophy to be adopted by any political party to make any structural changes.

Hindu Mahasabha had declined to the state from where its demise was the only logical conclusion, deregistration of HMS by Election Commission in 1992 on the ground that it restricted its membership to Hindus alone

Hindu Mahasabha had declined to the state from where its demise was the only logical conclusion, deregistration of HMS by Election Commission in 1992 on the ground that it restricted its membership to Hindus alone appeared to be the final blow to its survival. Further, HMS won the legal battle against the Election Commission but had denied changing its policy when it was given an option to change its policy of admitting members. It didn't result in any revival of Hindu Mahasabha as Mahant Avaidyanath couldn't expand it beyond one constituency. In the tumultuous times, it's the absence of any other Hindu party which is making Hindu Nationalists rely on the BJP alone. Who knows if Gandhi won't have been assassinated then the course of Hindu politics in India would have been radically different.

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