Kapil, few points.
1) Dynastic-rule did not start with Rajiv (/a result of Hindu polarization). So, let us not couple it with religious polarization. (Sycophancy and caste-ism in our blood... may be!).
2) Hinduism, unlike monotheistic religions, is too tolerant/vast// and India is too big & diverse to turn into another Pakistan. You can argue that for the same reasons there won't be a deep Hindu polarization in India (Hindu can not unite under a book, any book)!!
And who knows may be sense of religious belonging (/polarization) can curb the caste-based polarization, making India a more homogeneous society!! After all, while voting Indian muslims (Shia, Sunni, and Ahamadi) are not as fractured as Indian Hindus are! Is the religious polarization playing some +ve role here?
3) Of course, I don't want India to turn into a Pakistan. But I won't mind India turning in to a Italy, or Brunai or Quatar or Male or Turkey: Decent HDI you know :nonchalance:. Heck, even in god-less US, most non-Christian candidates find it hard to sway average voter's heart! :tongue: what do you call it? polarization?
4) I understand your apprehension regarding polarization. You like it or not, religious bigotry in India is on rise. TV serials, certain religious TV channels, and increasingly easier access to propaganda materials. Is it good? No. Is it bad? I don't know.
It could turn out to be a total disaster but then it could also be the biggest blessing Indian ever get.
Uniform Civil Code (undoing the historic wrong done to Shah Bano & sisters), solution of water-sharing problems, elimination of regional parties (which I believe are a nuisance), authoritarian govt at centre-> assertive foreign policy without any minority appeasing, laws to control population without giving a hoot to certain sections who oppose it tooth and nail, kick-starting economic reforms without being pulled from every side, and probably inculcate a sense of accountability (or fear thereof) among govt officials starting from the rank and file.
Congress had many chances to facilitate all this, it never did. In fact, many of these problems are created by Congress over their long rule. Congress has failed this nation way too many times to expect anything from it. Leftists are confused lot, lofty ideals not much to show for it; they seem to be the part of history in national politics now. Only BJP has any realistic chance (
however small) to get this country out of gutter. If wide-spread religious bigotry is the clutch they need, so be it. Tyranny could only be better than the anarchy which we seem to have now.