My column published on November 16, 2024 (The Indian Express) was headlined Maharashtra is the Prize. I have no hesitation in acknowledging that the Mahayuti, an alliance of the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP, won the prize decisively. Mahayuti won 230 of the 288 seats. 

Clever Messaging 

A debate has started on what was the main cause of Mahayuti’s victory. Most people seem to agree that it was Ladki Bahin Yojana (LBY). Under the scheme, the Shinde government promised — and distributed beginning July 1, 2024 — Rs 1,500 per month to every woman whose family income was less than Rs 2,50,000 a year, and the number of beneficiaries amounted to 2.5 crore. Mahayuti also promised that, if re-elected, the amount would be enhanced to Rs 2,100 per month.

The scheme clicked because of agrarian distress, high unemployment rate especially among rural women, stagnant rural wages and inflation. But it was not a novel scheme. It was a copy-cat scheme that had been implemented in Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Telangana. Besides, the main rival, MVA, had also promised a sum of Rs 3,000 to every poor woman if MVA came to power. On the balance of arguments, I do not think that LBY was the determining factor in the elections. 

In my view, the new factor in the Maharashtra Assembly elections was the insidious message that was delivered to the Maharashtra electorate by the trio of Mr Narendra Modi, Mr Amit Shah and Mr Adityanath, and amplified by the army of RSS volunteers.They coined ‘Ek Hai toh Safe hai’ (if we are one, we are safe) and ‘Batenge toh Katenge’ (divided, we perish) that were deceptively neutral exhortations but, in fact, were addressed to the members of a particular community. Inflammatory speeches on ‘love jihad’ and ‘vote jihad’ were frequently made in the campaign. Old war cries such as ‘tukde tukde gang’ and ‘urban naxals’ were revived. The messaging was clever, well-directed and found its mark. It recalled to my mind the poisonous barbs that were thrown during the Lok Sabha elections: ‘If you have two buffaloes, Congress will take away one. Your mangalsutra will be taken away. And all that will be given away to people who bear more kids’. 

A Maha Yukti (Trick) 

There was no doubt which was the target community for which the messages were intended. And there was no doubt which community was the so-called danger to the target community. Mr R Jagannathan, columnist, usually sympathetic to the BJP, writing in the ToI, admitted that it was “a potent slogan for Hindu vote consolidation”. The new slogans were reminiscent of RSS Chief Mr Mohan Bhagwat’s speech on Vijayadashami day this year in which he said, “Hindu community across the world should learn the lesson that being unorganised and weak is like inviting atrocities by the wicked.”

The slogans and the speeches were part of the hate campaign and part of the ‘divide and win’ election strategy. They were an abuse of the freedom of speech and expression. They cocked a snook at the Constitution of India. They trampled on Articles 15, 16, 25, 26, 28(2), 28(3), 29 and 30 of the Constitution. The campaign was a Mahayukti (grand strategy, trick) conjured by Mahayuti (grand alliance). Every country has minorities. A minority could be religious or linguistic or ethnic or racial. The United States has black people and Latino people. China has Uighurs. Pakistan has Shias. Pakistan and Bangladesh have Hindus. Sri Lanka has Tamils and Muslims. Australia has aboriginals. Israel has Arabs. Several European countries have Jews and Roma.

The Council of Europe has adopted the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, 1998 to promote equality and preserve and develop the culture and identity of national minorities. Among the seminal laws are the Civil Rights Act, 1964 in the US and a raft of laws to protect the rights of aboriginals in Australia. The far-sighted Dr Ambedkar elevated the rights of minorities in India to fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution of India.

Hypocrisy

Indians and the Indian government are passionate and vocal about the rights of Hindus in Bangladesh and Pakistan. We are concerned when Indian-origin students are harassed or killed in foreign Universities. We are incensed when Hindu temples or Sikh gurdwaras are vandalised in foreign countries. But when other countries or human rights organisations question India on the treatment of minorities, the Ministry of External Affairs springs into action to warn them, ‘don’t interfere in our internal matters’.

The hypocrisy is apparent.Spiteful speeches and actions are spreading around the world. Bangladesh arrested a Hindu monk and there is a clamour for a ban on ISKCON. The head of an Indian Mutt reportedly said ‘Deny voting rights to Muslims’ (source: newindianexpress.com). Both are unacceptable in a democracy.The minorities issue will haunt India if the NDA continues to play its game of “divide and win”. It is no different from the sinister British game of “divide and rule”.