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This article presents findings from the first-ever survey of populist attitudes in India. Historically, the Indian usage of the concept of populism was mostly confined to the fiscal handouts of governments for the lower-income groups, something that is viewed as part of left-wing populism elsewhere in the world. The idea of right-wing populism, which equates popular will with the interests of the ethnic/racial/religious majority, is something relatively novel at the highest echelons of the Indian polity. Its emergence coincides with the rise of Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to national power since 2014. However, our survey finds, first, that at the level of mass attitudes, populism and Hindu nationalism are quite distinct phenomena. Those who can be called populists are not Hindu nationalists and vice versa. This finding, second, also leads to our argument that while right-wing populism has emerged in India as a leadership discourse, it is still to take roots at the level of popular attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both populism and nationalism are rooted in the idea of popular sovereignty. They look alike when populism gravitates towards the right, identifying "the people" with an ethnic or racial majority, and when nationalism turns against the minorities. But populism can also go towards the left, embracing the low-income citizenry as the nation's "true people," just as nationalism can include ethnic and racial diversity under its umbrella. Some other key differences are also noteworthy. Populism is inevitably defined as an anti-elitist doctrine, whereas nationalism is often led by the elites. Moreover, embedded as it normally is in state institutions, laws, school textbooks, museums and maps, nationalism can be a state ideology, taking routinized forms. In contrast, populist politics thrives on a virtually relentless mobilization of popular energy. Nationalism acquires this fervent form mainly under two conditions: when it is secessionary, trying to break states up, or when it becomes majoritarian, attacking internal minorities. Otherwise, nationalism can easily exist in a quieter register. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]