The 2014 Indian general elections were won by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The ideology of the BJP holds that India is a Hindu nation, rather than a secular one.[32] In its manifesto for the 2014 elections, the BJP had promised to grant citizenship to Hindu refugees from Bangladesh and Pakistan.[11] After coming to power, the government announced that Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals belonging to "minority communities" would be exempted from the requirements of the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and the Foreigners Act, 1946.[33] The minority communities were listed as Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, and they were required to have been "compelled to seek shelter in India due to religious persecution or fear of religious persecution". Those that arrived in India before 31 December 2014 were granted exemption from the requirements,[4] and subsequently issued long-term visas.[5]