Like mourners bickering at a funeral, members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are busily apportioning blame for their surprise defeat in the elections held in India in April and May. They are also squabbling over its future direction and leadership, and over how to handle a revolt in the ranks in the state of Gujarat against the leadership of Narendra Modi, the chief minister, and most controversial of all BJP politicians. On one side are those who think the party needs to broaden its appeal as a moderate, centrist, force. On the other are those who want the BJP to reassert its identity as the champion of India's Hindu majority. The BJP is the political branch of a "family" of Hindu organisations, whose parent is the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Many within the RSS believe that the election was lost because not enough attention was paid to the movement's core purpose, the promotion of Hindutva,or"Hinduness".
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