The contours of the INDIA grouping seem to be crystallising. The word is that the talks on seat-sharing among the allies, which is likely to be a thorny matter, are set to begin soon and the venue of the alliance’s first joint rally has also been fixed. The recent round of by-elections also brought some cheer for the coalition partners with candidates from INDIA winning, most notably in Uttar Pradesh. But there can be no doubt about the fact that INDIA remains vulnerable on account of pulls and pressures arising out of their diverse — conflicting — points of view. Consider the controversy that was stoked by Udhayanidhi Stalin’s remark on Sanatana Dharma, which the Bharatiya Janata Party has been only too glad to latch on to for political dividends. The prime minister, Narendra Modi, has been on the offensive, spinning specious theories about the Opposition’s adversarial attitude towards Hinduism that the BJP has cleverly, but erroneously, conflated with Sanatana Dharma. Sensing the BJP’s eagerness to corner coalition constituents such as the Congress, the Trinamul Congress and the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) on the issue, M.K. Stalin has now called for toning down the rhetoric on Sanatana Dharma and, instead, concentrate on Mr Modi’s silence on his policy failures. It appears that the first round of political dividends on the Sanatana Dharma controversy has been accrued by the BJP. This, in turn, reveals the political challenges that are likely to arise for INDIA’s constituents on account of their multiple ideological catchment areas. Mr Stalin’s comment may not inconvenience the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu but some of its allies may face the heat in their northern constituencies.

The BJP’s glee notwithstanding, it must answer a couple of important questions related to the issue. First, does not its equation of Sanatana Dharma with Hinduism betray an ignorance of the heterogeneity of the faith that it claims to represent? Hinduism is an amalgamation of multiple strains of thought; but then, the BJP’s allergy to such pluralism is well-known. Second, Mr Modi claims to be a reformer. Should the elements of Sanatana Dharma synonymous with hierarchy and discrimination be immune to scrutiny and revision? A blind defence of a timeless — archaic? — philosophy is indicative of a regressive mindset.