This book presents a comprehensive and perceptive study of the Bharatiya
Jana Sangh through the first two decades of its history from 1951. The
Bharatiya Jana Sangh was the most robust of the first generation of
Hindu nationalist parties in modern Indian politics and Bruce Graham
examines why the party failed to establish itself as the party of the
numerically dominant Hindu community. The author explains the relatively
limited appeal of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in terms of the restrictive
scope of its founding doctrines; the limitations of its leadership and
organization; its failure to build up a secure base of social and
economic interests; and its difficulty in finding issues which would
create support for its particular brand of Hindu nationalism. Bruce
Graham ends with a major survey of the party's electoral fortunes at
national, state and local levels.