LAUSR

ABSTRACT The rise of Hindu nationalist ideologies in public universities in India has partly been accredited to the growing prominence of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). The ABVP is the student organization of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and operates on college campuses. For most observers, ABVP’s influence is linked to the dominance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), RSS’ political organ. But in the Western Maharashtrian city of Pune, a region that has had an ABVP presence for several generations, the unit explicitly denies all associations with the BJP. In this article, I explore the historical and strategic logics behind this denial. I argue that the ABVP’s strategy in Pune is part of a longer and understudied history of an anti-political discourse that emerged in universities over the course of a century. By appealing to apolitical student interests, the ABVP is further contributing to universities becoming key sites for the production of Hindu nationalism.