| H. V. Seshadri
For the first time in the history of our General
Elections to the Lok Sabha, a new ideological dimension
was added to the election battle. And that is, the attack
launched by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on "Hindu Rashtra" and by others who had picked up that
line. S. G. Sardesai of the Communist Party, for example,
had even called upon Rajiv Gandhi and V. P. Singh not to
waste their energies in minor charges and counter charges
against each other but to jointly face the looming threat
of Hindu Rashtra.
From the point of view of the protagonists of Hindu
Rashtra, the debate on Hindu Rashtra becomes an
ideological discussion which it welcomes heartily. For,
making it an issue of public debate implies the
acceptance of the fact that the appeal of Hindu Rashtra
among the common people is so widespread that it can no
longer be ignored. It also amounts to recognising the
fact that Hindu Rashtra as an ideology has begun to
powerfully impinge upon politics also.
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