Critics of the BJP would say that this sameness is fundamental to the agenda of polarization of which many accuse the party. But polarization implies two sides - one which polarizes and the other which is pushed away. This depicts the range of parties confronting the BJP: the SP and the BSP supported the RLD candidate along with the Congress. Almost inevitably, the BJP won the Lok Sabha polls of 2014 and the assembly elections of 2017, riding on the memories of Muzaffarnagar. Whatever its future, this is not unity in sameness but unity in difference - once imagined as the stuff and spirit of India.

Source: The Telegraph June 05, 2018 18:22 UTC