A nasty, polarising election

As 7.5 million Indian voters were scheduled to cast their vote on Monday in the first phase of the world’s largest democratic exercise, it was appalling to watch the discourse of this election change from development and inclusive growth to a deliberate and vicious polarisation of voters.

Let us begin with the party that is firmly in the saddle and tipped to be the winner by a mile, if not more — the BJP. Till recently, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was shouting from the rooftops that he wanted “to bring a change in your lives. The poor must have a life with dignity and we are devoted to this cause”. As a tea boy he knew what it was to face insults and could understand the pain suffered by the poor who were insulted all the time, and so on

He still continues to do that, while throwing a communal punch or two every now and then, but largely sticks to the script of “ Congress-mukt Bharat ” and sarcastic references to the Congress’ Shehzada . But his alter ego, BJP general secretary Amit Shah, who is in charge of Uttar Pradesh, is in hot water for his reported hate speech during a recent election meeting in riot-ravaged Muzaffarnagar.

Accompanied by the BJP legislator Suresh Rana, an accused in the riots in which over 60 people, mostly Muslims, were killed, and thousands fled their homes, he reportedly told a largely Jat gathering (the clashes were between Jats and Muslims): “This election is about voting out the government that protects and gives compensation to those who killed Jats. It is about badla (revenge) and protecting izzat (honour).” This they could do by voting for the BJP.

If this is indeed what he said, a more classic case of hate-mongering is difficult to find, that too in a region which continues to be communally fragile, with old wounds still festering. The Uttar Pradesh police have lodged an FIR and booked him under several sections of the IPC and the Election Commission has served a notice on him.

The Congress too has done its polarising bit. First, its Saharanpur candidate Imran Masood breathed fire and brimstone about chopping Modi to bits and then its president Sonia Gandhi firmed up a “deal” with the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, which resulted in his appeal to Muslims to vote for the Congress, except in West Bengal, where Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress had refused to join the BJP-led NDA.

He went as far as to say that Congress should be Muslims’ first choice as both Mulayam’s Samajwadi Party and Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party had proved to be “untrustworthy”!

While there are serious questions on the extent of his influence, the Shahi Imam’s endorsement of the Congress has the other large contender for Muslim votes — the Aam Aadmi Party — worried. In personal conversations, many Muslims have told me that since they had been only used as “vote-banks” or had been “betrayed” by all political parties, this time they would try out the AAP. And, expecting such support, the AAP has given out the largest number of tickets to Muslim candidates — 37 (8.6 per cent) of its 426 candidates are Muslims, the largest number being in UP. The Congress and BJP have fielded only about 6.5 per cent and 1.4 per cent Muslim candidates. 

Perhaps watching these developments or as a well-planned strategy, the BJP manifesto released on Monday, the last one out, talks about building a Ram Mandir, but within constitutional parameters of course! A bulk of its content is related to Modi’s promise of development, reduction in inflation and prices of essential commodities, a strict ‘no’ to FDI in multi-brand retail to keep happy its large constituency of small traders and businessmen, tax reforms, corruption free government, and so on.

Even though Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat (a united and great India) and Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas (support and growth for all) are the main slogans in the 52-page manifesto, whether you like it or not, what will first hit the eye of the average Indian Muslim is the Ram Mandir issue. And what she/he is bound to remember from the BJP campaign speeches, particularly in the Hindi heartland, is the pitch against cow slaughter.

According to BJP insiders, apparently Modi wanted to keep out emotive Hindutva issues such as Ram Mandir from getting prominence in the party manifesto, but the RSS leadership’s strategy was to bring key Hindutva issues into the public domain so that polarisation could happen by pandering to majority sentiment. Modi had to fall in line and perhaps this was the genesis of his “pink revolution” comments. In election rallies he gives a graphic description of mutton being pink and the Congress ushering in the “pink revolution” through the proliferation of slaughter houses.

What cannot be missed is that the Shahi Imam’s endorsement of the Congress came after the BJP failed to field a single Muslim candidate in UP. The writing on the wall couldn’t have been clearer on what the BJP thinks of Muslim votes.

What I personally welcome, despite scathing tweets from activists such as Kavita Krishnan, is the BJP manifesto promising a uniform civil code. Even though there might be adequate reason to suspect a sinister design here, let us desist from crying wolf. If a uniform law can help destitute women thrown out from the sanctity of their homes by callous men get adequate maintenance, it would be a step in the right direction. If the self-appointed guardians of Islam want their niche space protected, let them begin by treating their women with respect, dignity and equity.

Meanwhile here is Kavita’s tweet: “BJP’s Uniform Civil Code = imposition of uniform khap code on all Indian women. Ban on jeans, Valentine’s and friendship with Muslim men...” Need you go elsewhere for entertainment in an Indian election season?

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