Almost three years after political scientist Rajni Kothari used the phrase “Congress system” in 1964 to describe the party’s dominant position in Indian politics as an umbrella, an opposition party was grappling with another side of the story.
It was 1967. During a party meeting at Calicut, Deendayal Upadhyay, the leader of the BJP’s predecessor Bharatiya Jan Sangh, talked about political untouchability practised against the party. He hinted at the unwillingness of other political forces to ally with the Jan Sangh in mounting a challenge to one-party dominance.
