There is unprecedented excitement and some apprehension about the outcome of state Assembly elections in Assam and West Bengal. Although elections are also taking place in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala, the results of Assam and Bengal are expected to have a greater impact on national politics. A BJP victory in both West Bengal and Assam, two states with significant Muslim populations, will endorse its image as the sole defender of the Hindus. Legislative discrimination on grounds of religion will be legitimised and strengthen the majoritarian agenda implicit in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) goal of “one nation, one party,
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