Except for the Sikh-dominated Punjab province, voters in the four other states — Goa, Uttar Pradesh (UP), Uttarakhand and Manipur — that went to polls recently in India continued to chase the chimaera of Hindutva, by giving the majority to the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with Home Minister Amit Shah, actively campaigning in Punjab, and backed by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) that has been working on the ground for a few years, Punjabis rejected the divisive agenda. It also crushed the traditional parties — Akali Dal and Congress.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which was born out of an anti-corruption crusade a decade ago, got an overwhelming mandate in the state, winning 92 seats out of the total of 117. The AAP is already ruling the Delhi city, but its governance could not be fully tested as Delhi Police and land in the national capital continued to remain with the central government. So, it is for the first time that the AAP will be tested to govern a full-fledged state.
For a long time, the RSS-BJP combine had aspired to take over Punjab. To consolidate the 40 percent of Hindu votes in the state, they promised to anoint a Hindu chief minister. Besides Modi and Shah, 11 union ministers and senior leaders of the party campaigned in Punjab.
Punjab has several deras, which are headed by self-styled godmen with massive following. Often before the elections, political parties approach the deras to get electoral support. Amit Shah left no stone unturned in Punjab and even paid visits to self-styled godmen, like Radha Swami sect chief and Gurmeet Ram Rahim, who was serving 20 years imprisonment but got a furlough just days before the elections.
Besides, it was hard for Punjab to forget the yearlong farmers protest, when the central government had called them Khalistani sympathizers and had lodged several complaints and FIR against them.
While the result of UP has made the BJP more confident, the sense of insecurity amongst the 19 percent of Muslims has increased. “There is no doubt about it. Chances are that we are going to get sidelined even further,” adds Rehmani.
“Punjab has learnt its lesson the hard way. The politics of playing the Sikhs against the Hindus is not new in Punjab. Just three decades back, Punjab has suffered because of such religious polarization. So probably the state has rejected this Hindutva narrative of the BJP,” says Rajender Brar, a professor based in Chandigarh.
Senior journalist and political analyst Parsa V. Rao says the Hindus of Punjab are tactical voters. “The Hindu voters of Punjab understand it well that BJP has no future in Punjab. So they saw no point in voting for them.”
Likewise, the Muslim minority in Uttar Pradesh voted tactfully to keep the fringe elements out. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), led by Asadudddin Owaisi, managed to create quite a flutter in the UP polls. Experts had predicted Owaisi’s presence in the state would benefit the BJP by dividing the Muslim vote. But his party could not even get 1 percent vote in the state.
“Muslims saw their saviour in the Samajwadi Party. They understood that Owaisi would be nothing more than a spoiler and so he was rejected,” says Dr Tasleem Rahmani, President of Muslim Political Council of India.
While the result of UP has made the BJP more confident, the sense of insecurity amongst the 19 percent of Muslims has increased. “There is no doubt about it. Chances are that we are going to get sidelined even further,” adds Rehmani.
But UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s recent statement that he is not an enemy of Muslims brings in some respite to the community.
Though with more the 41 percent of the vote share in the state, the BJP will have to reposition itself to deal with the Indian Muslims — and to hold on to its position as a leader and to completely wipe out the Congress.
“More than the Muslim, the BJP wants to wipe out the Congress. They know well that Muslims cannot be wiped out. From Yogi’s recent statement, it appears that the BJP is going to accommodate Muslims, but on their terms and conditions, like the Uniform Civil Code. Only time will decide how much of this will be accepted or rejected by the Indian Muslims,” adds Rahmani.
