[swarthyguy]

Pretty much. Briefly, the Congress Party comes from a background influenced by the LabourParty and Fabian Socialism of Great Britain in the 40's and 50's.

The BJP Coalition has the saffronista component but also, and far more importannt, IMO, includes what was in the 60's and 70's the Swatantra Party; a Pro-business and Pro-US party. Jaswant Singh, India's Foreign Minister comes out of this business/pro-US wing.

[Dog Gone]

Thanks for the info.

Does "saffronista" refer to the Hindu movement? That has been the one thing about the BJP that seems troubling to me. It seems to be portrayed as somewhat of a pro-Hindu, anti-any-other-religion party. I don't know how accurate that is, but I think that would be a bad thing in a country that is fighting separatist movements.