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Dr Rajat Ganguly, an academic based at Murdoch University, Australia, has published widely on identity politics and ethnic conflict, insurgency and terrorism, and security and strategic affairs in South and Southeast Asia. In this email interview with Aditi Phadnis, he speaks of identity politics and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Edited excerpts:
The BJP believes that in a perfect world, being a nationalist should subsume all other identities: Caste, region, religion. But it can't help playing the caste card if that wins elections, or the region card. In other words, it plays identity politics without saying so. Will this contradiction wither
