24

Oct

Nationalism, Regime Change: Fresh Additions to the BJP Narrative

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Prof. Pradeep Mathur

New Delhi I Saturday I October 24, 2026
The student protest against paper leak and emergence of the Cockroach Janata Party( CJP) in May  earlier this year have now turned  into  a nation-wide agitation against ,what has been termed as, vote chori. The agitation to  demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Ghanesh Kumar is now threatening the very existence of the Modi Government.

Unnoticed by most of us the agitation has also brought about a paradigm change in the battlelines of war of words. Almost since 2012 the BJP-RSS ecosystem had been dominating the world of narrative and, with it   the mind of the masses. It succeeded in creating the impression that the Manmohan Singh government was suffering from policy paralysis ; there was rampant corruption and Rahul Gandhi is a pappu.

The BJP-RSS think tank used the emerging social media in a very effective way to attack a weak and defenceless Congress leadership and question the legacy of the Congress rule since Independence. India Against Corruption agitation of Anna Hazare, a pliable press, status quoist middle class and champions of  big business  helped to build a powerful  narrative against the Congress govt of Dr Manmohan Singh.

The larger-than-life size image of Narendra Modi backed up by his oratory gave a head start to the BJP-RSS propaganda war against the Opposition. The Congress was certainly the main target with the slogan of a Congress-Mukt Bharat but all other Opposition parties as well as the entire spectrum of  Left liberal opinion groups and civil society organisations working for empowerment of the disadvantaged sections of society were also on the firing line. To support the Modi Govt. drive against opponents was the state machinery with  the ED, CBI and police force bureaucracy standing in line to obey the orders. A pliable media and less- than- fair- lower judiciary was there to oblige the ruling establishment.

The chinks in the armour of the Modi govt. started becoming  visible from 2016 with the disastrous step of note-bandi and a half-baked  GST system imposed in hurry. But the simmering discontent took another eight years to reflect in the Lok Sabha election results of 2024. The party which was boosting of getting 400 plus seats could not get even a bare absolute majority to form the government on its own.

Though the BJP somehow managed to do well in the Assembly elections held earlier this year the simmering discontent soon burst out  as volcano. It can be said with a degree of certainty that the  Modi government seriously underestimated the political significance of the youth unrest that erupted over the NEET paper leak and cancellation of examination results in May. Buoyed by electoral victories and surrounded by an ecosystem accustomed to applauding its every move, the BJP leadership looked convinced that all was well with the country. 

Now with the change in the mass perception about the Modi Govt. there is a marked change in the narrative . The BJP IT cell's propaganda no longer commands the same authority; supportive media outlets are losing credibility and audiences; attacks on the Congress are less persuasive; Rahul Gandhi can no longer be dismissed simply as a political novice; and the mobilisation of Hindu voters through anti-Muslim rhetoric and the repeated assertion that Hindus are in danger faces growing scepticism. Even Narendra Modi’s once-formidable oratory

Aappears to have lost some of its magic despite the invention of fresh political labels such as “naraz fufa” and “urban Naxals.” As against this the charges of vote chori by the entire Opposition , Rahul Gandhi’s jibes , Neha Rathore’s satire, her hard-hitting folk songs, the use of angry, aggressive and even indecent slogan chanting by agitating young boys and girls facing police oppression  , are now the toast of media audiences. Though late , the Opposition leaders as well as the independent press  has learnt effective  use of social media techniques . This is proving very costly to the BJP-RSS establishment as they are digging into old videos and uploading these to the embarrass the top BJP leadership. 

When the youth agitation gathered momentum at Jantar Mantar, reinforced by Sonam Wangchuk’s fast, the Modi government initially dismissed it as inconsequential. As the protests grew into a wider movement, the response shifted from indifference to coercion. Home Minister Amit Shah’s reported reliance on police force to contain the agitation proved politically counterproductive, culminating in the July 20 setback for the ruling party and the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

One might have expected the government to learn from this experience and reconsider its approach. Instead, the effort to intimidate young protesters and suppress dissent has continued. What appears to have changed, however, is the effectiveness of the BJP’s traditional political weapons.

The BJP-RSS establishment is now using  two new weapons it thinks will  prove more effective on mass mind .These are nationalism and  regime change. The  calculation is that the talk of regime change will alarm our status quo-oriented middle class which generally  sets the tone of public perception , while the invocation of nationalism will  have an emotional appeal for young protesters and wean them away from the current movement . However, this strategy y reveals a deeper dimension : the  BJP has a   leadership which is incapable of understanding how political consciousness is changing.

It is highly unlikely that these two weapons being used by Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in their Vijaya Dashmi address    will prove effective in their war of narratives with their opponents.. For decades, the BJP-RSS ecosystem has sought to establish a particular brand of nationalism, closely associating it with hostility towards Muslims and Pakistan. That formula can no longer persuade the new generation which acquires  political information through the internet. It  does not depend on the political parties, ideological organisations and traditional media that once exercised  control over political discourse.

The political awareness displayed by the young protesters and their slogans, campaign briefs and interactions with the media suggest that they understand nationalism as a force capable of uniting a country, but also of dividing it when loyalty to the nation is measured by a citizen’s religion, cultural identity or political allegiance.

The leaders associated with the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), as well as Neha Bora of AISA, are asking questions that the ruling establishment may find uncomfortable: What is nationalism? Who defines it? And by what standards should a citizen’s commitment to India be judged?

The young protesters know that in our democracy nationalism must be measured by commitment to India’s sovereignty, respect for its Constitution, equality of citizenship, protection of democratic institutions and responsibility towards fellow citizens. Therefore,  they are not rejecting nationalism but demanding a more inclusive understanding of it.

The same applies to the spectre of regime change. In a democracy, a change of government through constitutional and electoral means is neither a national calamity nor an act of disloyalty. It is a process natural to popular democracy.

It is unlikely that the BJP Govt will be able to win back the popular narrative to its side now. With anti-Modi and vote chori slogan- shouting mobs in the U.S. and Western capitals changing perceptions about the Modi regime it will be well- nigh impossible for the BJP-RSS ecosystem to be back on the chess board of popular narrative with  any  hope to be a winner.

(Veteran journalist and Media Guru, Prof Pradeep Mathur heads Mediamap News Network and is Chairman of MBKM Foundation, a voluntary organisation)
 

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