Cult of personality
India

During the days of the freedom struggle, Mahatma Gandhi had a cult-like following amongst the people of India. The assassination of Gandhi in 1948 led to widespread violence against Marathi Brahmins by his followers. After Gandhi's death, his cult was eclipsed by another personality cult that had developed around India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. C Rajagopalachari criticized the personality cult surrounding Nehru, saying that there should be an opposition group within the Congress. Rajagopalachari later formed the economically right-wing Swatantra Party in opposition to Nehru's socialist economic view. The expression ' Nehruvian consensus ' reflects the dominance of Nehruvian ideals, a product of Nehru's personality cult and the associated statism, i.e. the overarching faith in the state and the leadership. However, Nehru himself actively discouraged the creation of a cult of personality around him. He wrote an essay titled 'Rashtrapati' in 1937 published in the Modern Review warning people about dictatorship and emphasizing the value of questioning leaders.

The Congress party has been accused of promoting a personality cult centered around Nehru, his daughter Indira Gandhi & the Nehru-Gandhi family. Indira Gandhi has also been described as having a cult of personality during her administration. Following India's victory in the 1971 Indo-Pak war, Gandhi was hailed by many as a manifestation of the Hindu goddess Durga. Devakanta Barooah, the then Congress party president had remarked ' India is Indira, Indira is India '. Her assassination in 1984 by her Sikh bodyguards sparked a massive wave of public grief & anti-Sikh violence. The Congress party led by her son Rajiv Gandhi utilised her death to win the general elections shortly held after. His assassination while campaigning in the 1991 general elections also led to widespread public grief, which was utilised by the Congress to win the elections despite unfavorable circumstances.

Current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is often criticized for creating a personality cult around him. Despite some setbacks and criticism, Modi's charisma and popularity was a key factor that helped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) return to power in the 2019 general elections. Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the chief minister of the country's second largest state, said in 2022, "He is superhuman and has traces of God in him." The Opposition often accused Modi for spreading propaganda using popular media such as movies, television and web series. In 2021, Modi named the world's largest cricket stadium after himself. During the 2024 general elections, Modi tried to divinise himself in an interview, in which he stated that he viewed himself to be sent directly by God to serve a special purpose on Earth. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra while campaigning in the Hindu holy city of Puri stated that even Jagannath (the form of the Hindu god Vishnu which is venerated there) worships Modi. The BJP is also stated to have created a cult of personality around Hindu Mahasabha leader V. D. Savarkar & Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse to oppose the dominance of Gandhian philosophy in Indian society.

One study claims that India's political culture since the decline of the Congress' single-handed dominance over national politics from the 1990s has paved way for personality cults centered around leaders of the small regional parties, derived from hero-worship of sportspersons & film industry celebrities and the concept of bhakti, which in turn has fostered nepotism, cronyism & sycophancy. Among these leaders, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha had one of the most extensive ones. She was widely referred by leaders & members of her party as Amma ('mother' in Tamil, also used to refer to Hindu goddesses) & would prostrate themselves before her. Her government provided various kinds of subsidised goods under the brand name of Amma. Widespread violence broke out throughout the state when she was arrested on charges of corruption. A huge wave of public grief swept all over the state, with some even committing suicide, following her death in 2016. Another leader, Mayawati, was also known for attempting to foster a cult of personality during her tenure as the Chief Minister of India's most populous state by getting constructed large statues of herself & the elephant (which was the electoral symbol of her party) that were installed in public parks at the cost of government exchequer.
combination:repeat_prompt, length_constraints:number_paragraphs[6]