ABSTRACT
'The rudest shock comes from the manner in which the Government and the country are allowing themselves to be pushed off the edge of secularism into the abyss of communal reaction, falling back to the frightening atavism of stagnant, dark and medieval ethos of the Hindi-speaking areas.' Shrewd political calculation was reinforced by a personal predilection towards religiosity. For the first time since independence the priests and the politicians spearheaded a massive, countrywide fundamentalist upsurge, setting aside party and sectarian allegiances to crusade for a common Muslim/Islamic cause. The leadership at the apex, caught up in the arithmetic of electoral politics, sheltered Hindu nationalists and courted Hindu and Muslim communalists. They almost seemed to show a talent for making tactical blunders and pursuing unprincipled policies. The growing electoral success of the Hindu parties, including the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, was a pointer to the decline of Congress and the demoralisation in.
