ABSTRACT

This chapter aims to comprehend the changing texture of Indian polity by reference to the rise and consolidation of the BJP following its victory in the 2014 national election. focusing on the NDA poll victory, this chapter reiterates the argument that an effective election campaign, led by Narendra Modi along with the BJP's frontal organizations and also the Sangh Parivar, resulted in an unprecedented victory that the BJP had not witnessed since its arrival on the political scene in 1980. The chapter argues that electoral choice in India needs to be understood in a historical perspective because it is not an instantaneous outcome but an offshoot of complex socio-economic and political processes. It argues that it is difficult to comment on the fate of contending political parties in a fixed conceptual form presumably because of the rapidly transforming socio-economic and political context in which electorates make their preferences while casting their votes.