BJP
The bottom-up Hindutva
Badri Narayan on how Uma Bharti’s return to the BJP might mean busy times ahead
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been on the back foot in the recent past. The Hindutva party that had soared on the Ram Janmabhoomi issue lost the way when the saffron bubble burst. It is in deep crisis now, desperate to gain ground that it has lost. And, once again, Uttar Pradesh is going to become the testing ground for it, as it will for other major parties. For the BJP, the crisis in Uttar Pradesh is grim. The Ram Janmabhoomi issue has been relegated to the background. It does not have dynamic leaders in the state. To fill the palpable vacuum it has brought back firebrand Uma Bharti in the party, about five-and-a-half years after her expulsion. She seems to be the last straw for the drowning BJP.
Illustration: Tim Tim Rose
Traditionally, the BJP’s strength in Uttar Pradesh was its Other Backward Classes (OBC) – chiefly Lodh and Nishad – and the Savarna vote bank. Kalyan Singh, an important Lodh leader had switched over to the Samajwadi Party, where he faced rough weather. In January this year, he announced the launch of Jan Kranti Party (JKP), despite the BJP president Nitin Gadkari’s announcement that he was not averse to the return of Kalyan Singh, Uma Bharti and Govindacharya. While Singh could not be wooed back, the other OBC leader Vinay Katiyar remained in the shadows, as he failed to emerge as a symbol of the BJP’s hope. Meanwhile, the traditional support base of the BJP, the Brahmins, too shifted to the Congress and the BSP in the recent past. In this scenario, the BJP might not be able to make a sizeable dent in the Brahmin vote bank. With Rajnath Singh, former Chief Minister of the state, away from the state politics, the BJP’s Thakur vote bank too has eroded.
The faction-ridden BJP is in a terrible mess. Its state president Surya Pratap Shahi's faux pas targeted senior party leaders, when he said that earlier the BJP was a mere political observer in Uttar Pradesh, but under his leadership it has become an active participant. Though Gadkari tried hard to keep his flock together ahead of the June 3 National Executive meeting in Lucknow, there was little hope for the fractured party.
In this backdrop, the return of Bharti seemed imminent. The BJP bosses hope for a possible shift of the OBC votes once again. The controversial leader is both glamorous and aggressive. Her impact area has been the Bundelkhand region along the border of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Furthermore, her inclusion is being seen as a fillip to the hardliners in the party. It is being felt that Bharti would once again fuel the Ram Janmabhoomi issue and use it for electoral gains. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) that have been working in the state relentlessly needed a face for its Hindutva agenda, which Bharti will certainly provide.
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Another important aspect is the emergence of woman power in Indian politics. The national scenario shows the emergence of Jayalalithaa in the south, Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, Sheila Dixit in Delhi. We also have Sushma Swaraj as the leader of opposition in Parliament, Sonia Gandhi calling the shots in the Congress and Pratibha Patil as the President of India. In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP needed a woman to counter Rita Bahuguna Joshi of the Congress and the Chief Minister Mayawati. In this scenario, who could have been better than Bharti (do not miss the soft sound of the consonant ‘T’ in Rita, Mayawati and Bharti!).
Meanwhile, the worry of the RSS for the state is not unfounded. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said that to create a society free of discrimination, it is necessary to celebrate Sharad Purnima with Balmiki Jayanti. In January, he called a meeting of the heads of various new and old sects that flowered in the recent past, for example the Kabirpanthis, Nirankaris, Gyatri Parivar, Art of Living Foundation and ISKCON, in Lucknow. In this meeting, it was decided that they should strengthen the
As per its strategy, the Sangh started the samrasta abhiyan to embrace within its fold Dalits and lower castes. But, the samrasta (homogeneity) of this Hindutva, wherein the popular sects of Dalits and the poor are being experimented with, is both interesting and dangerous. Furthermore, the communal use of social reformation sects, like the Ramkrishna Mission and the Arya Samaj, is clearly visible now. It is worth mentioning that many of these sects emerged due to the advent of market forces, modernisation and new technology in the recent past in cities, urban slums and small townships. To propagate Hindutva in its meetings will be both a new challenge and a paradox for institutions like the Kabirpanth and the Art of Living Foundation, as their followers also belong to religions other than Hindus. However, the coming together of these sects in the renewed drive of Hindutva may have political resonance for the Sangh, the BJP and the BSP not only in Uttar Pradesh but in the whole of north India.
For including the lower castes and Dalits within its fold, the Hindutva politics has decided to project Ambedkar as a modern sage and construct a temple in his name. Other than this, the descriptions and memories of the symbol of Dalit glory, like their kings, heroes of Dalit folklores and the great leaders who fought for their cause are being saffronised with great vigour. Many events were organised, centred on Pasi heroes, like Raja Baldev Pasi, Daaldev Pasi and Suldev. Fairs in their memory are being organised every year. The efforts, like celebrating the birth anniversary of Balmiki in Sangh offices every year, are perceived as the saffronisation of Dalit memories, identity and recognition. By extension, it is also an effort to link them with the new politics of Hindutva.
Bhagwat and the RSS have every reason to worry. There is a sharp decline in the number of their cadres, the very brick and mortar of the right-wing Hindu brigade. Post-Mandal, the right-wing parties started losing ground. Its grand plan of creating a Hindu vote bank fractured in the ugly clash over the reservation issue. The BJP’s meteoric rise from two seats in 1980 to being the single largest party with 161 seats in 1996 in Parliament was dramatic. With allies it reached the 194 mark. Piquantly, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government survived for barely 13 days. Though the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) formed government in1998, it managed a full-five year term heading the coalition after the 1999 General Election. It was ousted from power in 2004. In the 2009 general elections, the NDA could garner only 116 seats.
The Indian middle class is chasing global dreams, following the burst of economic liberalisation. The moving away of the middle class hurt the saffron politics so much that now it is faced with an acute shortage of foot-soldiers, the RSS cadres. The emergence of Backwards and Dalits in politics caused a terrible crisis in the Hindutva politics. Thus, the RSS is making all efforts to involve the lower castes, including the Dalits, in its brand of politics. It is worth pointing out that the BJP managed to woo the Backwards and Dalit votes in Karnataka and Gujarat, but failed to do so in most of the cow-belt states in north India. It is now trying to create political movement by wooing Dalits, creating celebrations around its popular heroes, using the Karnataka-Gujarat model elsewhere.
In the past, the RSS and Hindutva forces had tasted success in similar efforts amongst tribal people in Gujarat and Kandhamal in Odisha. It was perhaps a laboratory of their political agenda, which now is being played in a much larger arena.
Badri Narayan is professor at GB Pant Social Science Institute, Allahabad.
bntiwari@gmail.com
