Right-Wing Politics in India

By

Archana Venkatesh

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Modi supporters in New Delhi.

Modi Supporters

Modi supporters in New Delhi attending a 2013 rally promoting development.

Villager voting according to symbols.

Village Voter

Villager voting according to symbols, like camels, ladders, etc., that represented various political parties in India's 1952 General Election.

Kashmir's Maharani giving money to an elderly female Kashmiri refugee.

Kashmir's Maharani

Kashmir's Maharani (wife of Maharaja) giving money to an elderly female Kashmiri refugee in New Delhi in 1948.

Pakistani refugees leaving their village near Saraghoda.

Pakistani Refugees

Pakistani refugees leaving their village near Saraghoda after it was bombed by Indian airplanes in September 1965.

This solar power plant was launched in 2012 by Narendra Modi.

Development in Gujarat

This solar power plant was launched in 2012 by Narendra Modi, then Chief Minister of Gujarat.

First-time voters in India’s 2009 General Election.

Young Voters

First-time voters in India’s 2009 General Election.

BJP worker distributing 'Modi Chai' to supporters.

Modi Chai

BJP worker distributing “Modi Chai” to supporters in Guwahati, Assam, India, before 2014 General Election.

Hindu nationalists in 2015.

Hindu Nationalists

Hindu nationalists in 2015 commemorate the destruction of the Babri Masjid.

George F. Cram 1885 map of India.

British Raj Map

George F. Cram 1885 map of India during British Raj.

The first session of the Indian National Congress.

Indian National Congress

The first session of the Indian National Congress met in December 1885 in Bombay.

The All India Muhammadan Educational Conference in 1906.

Muslim League

The All India Muhammadan Educational Conference in 1906 led to the creation of the Muslim League.

Madan Mohan Malaviya with Gandhi and Madeleine Slade.

Madan Mohan Malaviya

The founder of the Hindu Mahasabha, Madan Mohan Malaviya (right), with Gandhi (left) and Madeleine Slade (center) enroute to England to attend the Round Table Conference in 1931.

Dr. K.B. Hedgewar.

Dr. Hedgewar

Dr. K.B. Hedgewar established the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1925.

A 1970 Indian commemorative stamp of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

Savarkar Stamp

A 1970 Indian commemorative stamp of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

Dr. Hedgewar with five other original RSS members.

RSS Meeting

Dr. Hedgewar (front row, second from the left) in 1939 with five other original RSS members.

Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar.

Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar

Second Supreme Leader of the RSS, Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar, died in 1973.

October 7, 1947 edition of Amrita Bazar Patrika.

Amrita Bazar Patrika

October 7, 1947 edition of Amrita Bazar Patrika, an anti-colonial newspaper in Bengal, India.

RSS Youth.

RSS Youth

In 2017, there was no age restriction for joining the RSS.

Jawaharlal Nehru speaks to the Constituent Assembly in New Delhi.

Jawaharlal Nehru

Jawaharlal Nehru speaks to the Constituent Assembly in New Delhi on the eve of independence, August 15, 1947.

September 27, 1947 Manchester Guardian newspaper reporting on Muslim refugees heading to Pakistan.

Muslim Refugees

Private collector’s scrapbooked page of the September 27, 1947 Manchester Guardian newspaper reporting on Muslim refugees heading to Pakistan.

Painting of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb confronting an angry elephant.

Aurangzeb

Painting of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb confronting an angry elephant, c.1633.

CIA map of the Kashmir region.

Kashmir Region

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) map of the Kashmir region in 2003.

Hari Singh.

Hari Singh

Maharaja (king) of Jammu and Kashmir, Hari Singh, in 1931.

Kashmiri refugees arrive at the Pakistan border.

Kashmiri Refugees

Kashmiri refugees arrive at the Pakistan border in 1948.

Gandhi’s ashes were carried through the streets of Allahabad.

Gandhi's Ashes

Gandhi’s ashes were carried through the streets of Allahabad in February 1948.

Jana Sangh supporters campaigning in New Delhi.

Jana Sangh

Jana Sangh supporters campaigning in New Delhi in 1952.

Babri Masjid in Faizabad, India.

Babri Masjid

Babri Masjid in Faizabad (now Ayodhya), India, c.1863-1887. (Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program.)

Rioters attack Babri Masjid in 1992.

Babri Riot

Rioters attack Babri Masjid in 1992.

A.B. Vajpayee, President Carter, Indian Prime Minister Desai, and President Reddy.

A.B. Vajpayee

Then Minister of External Affairs, A.B. Vajpayee (left), President Carter, Indian Prime Minister Desai, and President Reddy (far right) in India in 1978.

Ratan Tata with Narendra Modi.

Tata and Modi

Indian industrialist, Ratan Tata (left), with Gujarat’s Chief Minister, Narendra Modi (right), in 2010.

Female students’ urinals at Govt. Middle School in Tamil Nadu, India.

Women's Urinals

Female students’ urinals at Govt. Middle School in Tamil Nadu, India, in 2015.

Hindu-Muslim riots in Gujarat, India.

Gujarat Riots

Hindu-Muslim riots in Gujarat, India, in 2002.

Indian security forces engaged in gun fight in Kulgam, Jammu and Kashmir.

Jammu and Kashmir

Indian security forces engaged in gun fight in Kulgam, Jammu and Kashmir, in 2017.

Indira Gandhi.

Indira Gandhi

Congress Party member, Indira Gandhi, served as Indian prime minister from 1966 to 1977, then again from 1980 to 1984.

Modi’s 2014 slogan to encourage global corporations to invest and manufacture products in India.

Make In India

Modi’s 2014 slogan to encourage global corporations to invest and manufacture products in India.

BJP rally in Uttar Pradesh in 2014.

BJP Rally

BJP rally in Uttar Pradesh in 2014.

Durga Vahini is the women’s division of Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

Durga Vahini

Part of the Sangh Parivar, Durga Vahini is the women’s division of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, established by M.S. Golwalkar in 1964.

Villager voting according to symbols.

Village Voter

Villager voting according to symbols, like camels, ladders, etc., that represented various political parties in India's 1952 General Election.

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