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Beyond Belief

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Beyond Belief: Indian Elections

31/03/2014

Indian Elections

BBC Radio 4 - Beyond Belief, Indian Elections

Ernie Rea and guests discuss the role Hindu Nationalism is playing in India's elections.

India is about to go to the polls. 788 million people are eligible to vote in the world's largest democracy. The role of regional, local and caste-based parties is important in Indian politics where Governments tend to rule by coalition, but this election is being represented as an epic struggle between the Indian National Congress party and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by the controversial figure of Narendra Modi, a Hindu Nationalist.

Joining Ernie Rea to discuss the role of religious nationalism in Indian politics are William Gould, Professor of Indian History at the University of Leeds, Atreyee Sen, lecturer in Contemporary Religion and Conflict at the University of Manchester, and Zoya Hasan formerly Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University and currently National Fellow of the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR).

Producer: Amanda Hancox, Rosie Dawson.

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