Just as the BJP increased its support base by making Mayawati the Chief Minister in Uttar Pradesh, similarly it increased its strength by making Nitish Kumar the Chief Minister in Bihar. Both Mayawati and Nitish were the faces of social change and secular politics, but the BJP made both of them the face of Hindutva. Not only made the face, but also made it as desired. BJP had brought Mayawati to power, and it was the BJP that outlawed Mayawati. Now the situation is that BJP does not need Mayawati, but Mayawati will always need BJP – only to preserve her existence. Nitish is also going to have the same result in future. With the help of Nitish, the BJP gradually sharpened the Hindu agenda in Bihar, the RSS organization was allowed to do anything the way Mayawati had allowed in Uttar Pradesh. Today on the strength of this, in Bihar, BJP has become a bigger party than Nitish’s party. Now Nitish’s strength will also be less, and the BJP will also implement its agenda fully, which will result in the BJP forming its absolute majority government in Bihar in the 2025 elections. The question remains of the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) if the BJP will not allow it to exist. When the SP and BSP alliance can be finished, then what is the grand alliance for them? Anyway, the grand alliance was formed on selfishness and will even break on selfishness. The age of instant politics is not long.
Along with the Bihar results, the results of the by-elections in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have also come in favour of the BJP. This shows that the Dalits and backward classes are largely with the BJP. If the Dalits and backward classes were not with the BJP, it was not only difficult but impossible to win the by-elections by BJP, but also in Bihar. The obvious reason for this is that the number of Hindu upper castes is not so much that the BJP can win on its strength. Now the question is, why do Dalits and Backward Classes vote for BJP? The answer is, being a Hinduist.
One thing is clear from this that the BJP cannot be defeated by the politics of secularism. It is also not right to oppose aggressive Hinduism to fight the BJP, because by doing so the BJP will make it an issue of being anti-Hinduism. And this is a game which the RSS and BJP play best.
Now the question is how to weaken the BJP? This has to be understood with a little history. Where the BJP stands today, yesterday the Congress stood with the same strength. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar fought throughout his life against the Congress. But the Congress did not become weak. Lohia too could not oust the Congress from power with his strong anti-Congressism. What is the reason of it? The reason is the same, which is against the BJP today. Babasaheb Ambedkar had put the Congress in the dock due to its Brahmanical policies. He even said that if the Congress comes to power, it will establish Hindu Raj in India, which will be harmful for Dalits, backward and other minority communities. But it had no effect on the people of India. The effect was not because the people of India were under the tremendous influence of Brahminism. They are still under its influence, and it would not be wrong to say that Brahmanism has expanded even more than before. It is only possible in India that the flag-bearers of social justice sit down weakened, and in opposition to this the politics of Kamandal becomes ruling. After all, what is the reason for this?
The BJP gave its politics a new tone or new edge in the last decade of the last century, when it started the politics of Ram-Mandir in 1990 against the politics of social justice. Ironically, in this political movement of the BJP, the RSS pushed the leaders and youth of the backward castes, for whom social justice movement was started for their economic upliftment. Kalyan Singh, Vinay Katiyar, Uma Bharti emerged as prominent faces against social justice. The youth of the backward castes, led by the upper castes, were ransacking the streets, and brutally beating up Dalit students in schools and colleges and hostels. This Hindu hysteria formed the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, where Kalyan Singh became the Chief Minister. The Student Islamic Movement was banned, and the Vidyarthi Parishad was made aggressive by giving it a free hand. In 1992 on 6th December, the day of the death of Dr. Ambedkar, the constitution-maker, the RSS and the BJP, by defying the Constitution, got demolished the Babri Masjid by a mob that had majority of youth belonging to the backward castes. The Congress was at the Centre then, but the Congress did not take an aggressive stand against the BJP. It could not even surround the Congress on this issue, because that was its own issue. During the temple movement, the RSS included backward castes in all its tactics. Within ten years, the RSS created Hindutva in the minds of Dalits and backward castes on Muslim opposition, so much that no soap can clean it.
Now the question is how did the BJP oust the Congress from power? The Congress was indirectly supporting BJP, it remained a secular party since independence and did the most work to expand Brahmanism. The Congress had prepared the land for Hindutva crop which is blooming today. On what basis did the BJP then oppose the Congress? This has to be understood.
The RSS had devised a strategy to oust the Congress from power. It made corruption the issue of Congress opposition. For that, it prepared Anna Hazare for the movement in Delhi. Overnight there was such a magic that people started reaching Delhi from every corner of the country. Ramlila Maidan was full. The strategy of corruption against the Congress was successful. The public mind became what the RSS wanted to create. Corruption issue brought down the Congress to the floor. Everything remained safe in the fight against corruption – Brahmanism as well as Varna system. BJP won. The BJP came to power with the same agenda, which was the ‘secret’ agenda of the Congress.
After coming to power, the BJP stopped the song of corruption, and made aggressive Hindutva its agenda. When this party of Brahmins and Savarnas came to power, the Brahmins and Savarnas of the Congress also joined the BJP. Now Hinduism is main plank in BJP politics, it is nationalism, and it is patriotism. Therefore, opposition to Hindutva is opposition of the nation and the country in BJP government. Whoever opposes Hindutva, the people of the RSS can file a lawsuit against him being anti-national. A demarcation line has been drawn among the people — one who is not with the BJP, is not with the nation. There were not many things under the control of Trump in America. But in India, everything is under the control of the BJP – even the army, police, Election Commission and judiciary. Therefore, it cannot be imagined in India, what happened in America.
Giving this long background here means that the politics of secularism cannot fight BJP. Because the RSS and BJP have very cleverly put it in the minds of Hindus that secular politics means opposing Hinduism or supporting Muslims. As soon as you oppose the NRC, you will question the role of the government in the Delhi riots, the rhetoric of the chaotic elements of the RSS will start against you, and you will be declared as a traitor. For such democrats and secularists, it has coined the dangerous word of Urban Naxal. You may be surprised to know that a leader of a Mahadalit organization has labelled me ‘Urban Naxal’ on an anti-BJP post on Facebook. From this, it can be guessed that how much Hindutva has filled the minds of Dalit and backward people that nothing is going to come to their understanding.
Tejashwi Yadav has shown a way in Bihar, which needs to be pursued. The way he surrounded Nitish Kumar and BJP only on the issue of employment, without opposing Hindutva, polarized the public to a great extent. We have to understand that caste and religion are two sensitive issues that hurt people’s feelings quickly, even if they are the reason for their ruin. We have to surround the RSS and BJP only on issues like employment, education, health services, autocracy, economic issues like privatization and expansion of finance capital. The issue of employment of Tejashwi distracted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who gave Tejashwi a very inferior title of ‘Yuvraj of Jungle Raj’. Modi could not say anything except this. The weak vein of RSS and BJP is employment and economic issues. But how will the Dalit-OBCs be brought to this issue, this is the question which we all have to consider.
Kanwal Bharti is a writer and columnist
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