Another very serious crisis facing the country today is the erosion of secular values. Communal forces have gathered strength in recent years and, for the first time, have come to power at the centre. The failure of the Congress, which ruled the country for four and a half decades, to ensure economic upliftment, social equality and progress to the people of India, has generated mass discontent which the communal forces have tried to exploit in order to fulfil their own narrow agenda. The emergence of the BJP as the biggest party in parliament shows the dangerous extent of the dangerous inroads made by the communal forces. Not only are we confronted with a critical situation on the economic front now, we are also faced with a situation where the very existence of India as a nation is in morel.