Hindu nationalism has always been a thing and Congress too practiced it. Otherwise they wouldn't have been in power for over half a century. The difference bet

Hindu nationalism has always been a thing and Congress too practiced it. Otherwise they wouldn't have been in power for over half a century. The difference between Congress and BJP is that Congress is a bit more opportunistic, so will cultivate any votebank that helps them get into power. BJP is a bit more ideological and prefers to cultivate Hindu votebank over other votebanks. I would say they now have a reliable enough votebank that they've given up any pretense of being anti-corruption and are being honest about their power plays (See recent Karnataka elections).