On 22 January, shortly after midday, Narendra Modi entered the half-built Ram Temple in the city of Ayodhya. Watched by millions on television and online, he slowly crossed the five halls, cradling a small silver umbrella (a symbol of spiritual power), and consecrated the new temple. The ceremony, he said, marked ‘the beginning of a new era’. TV presenters hailed the spectacle...
When the election results came in three days later, the BJP had inexplicably failed to secure a majority, let alone a supermajority, winning just 240 seats. INDIA was close behind with 232, defying all expectations. Pollsters wept on live television, news anchors had meltdowns, and share prices fell by 6 per cent in a day. The BJP performed particularly badly in the state of Uttar Pradesh, the heartland of the Hindu right, where it lost nearly half its seats. In the eyes of many liberal commentators, the party had suffered a ‘moral defeat’.
