On the third page of its constitution, the Bharatiya Janata Party lays out its conditions for membership: ‘Any Indian citizen of 18 years or above who accepts Articles II, III and IV of the Constitution shall, on making a written declaration… become a member’ of the BJP. What are these things that are important enough to make a written declaration?

Article II of the BJP constitution concludes with the lines ‘the Party shall bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established and to the principles of socialism, secularism and democracy…’.
Article IV says the party commits itself to a ‘Gandhian approach to socio-economic issues leading to [the] establishment of [an] egalitarian society free from exploitation’. It goes on to say that the ‘party stands for decentralisation of economic and political power’. [All emphases above this author’s.]

How do any of these values compare to the way the party today actually conducts itself? That would be interesting to see, but that is for another time. The subject of today’s column is Article III, a single line which reads: ‘Integral Humanism shall be the basic philosophy of the party.’

What is ‘integral humanism’ per the BJP playbook?

‘Integral Humanism’ is defined and elaborated in the text of four lectures given by Deendayal Upadhyaya in Bombay between 22 and 25 April 1965.

Upadhyaya held a bachelor’s degree in arts and was a journalist at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) house publication, Panchjanya. He was about 50 when he gave these lectures and became president of the Jana Sangh (the BJP’s precursor) a couple of years after he delivered........

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