I had read George Orwell’s 1984 while in college. At that time, the thought of a totalitarian State seemed impossible, albeit scary. But we have experienced glimpses of a totalitarian State in the last couple of years, where the State decides what we watch in the same manner as it decides what we should not eat.
As the BJP, and its allies, look towards gaining a majority in the Rajya Sabha (the Council of States), the opposition parties are left wondering how to counter the Right Wing wave.
In India, the practice of post poll alliances go entirely against the mandate of the people. The recent case in point being the North Indian State of Bihar - the BJP was not voted to rule the State; but an alliance with the JD (U) after the latter’s infamous fall-out with the RJD, which was, incidentally, the party to have won the maximum seats in the Assembly Elections, brought it to power in the State of Bihar.
The Southern State of Tamil Nadu, however, has managed to keep the BJP at bay. The upheaval in the AIADMK as a result of Jayalalithaa’s demise has brought together the two warring factions of the party, the ‘O.P.S. Camp’ and the ‘E.P.S. Camp’ , cleverly working out a seat sharing matrix, to keep the BJP away. The only South Indian State where the BJP has a reasonable presence is the State of Karnataka, where the infighting within the party cadres could possible work against the party, despite the Modi-Shah duo. And the ruling Congress party in the State is leaving no stone unturned in emphasising the regional identity with its people - the proposal for a State flag, for example. The South Indian States aren’t too happy with the attempt at imposing Hindi on them (among many other issues) in what is perceived as the BJP hegemony.
I recently read an interesting point of view on the reason behind the BJP’s winning streak, which is largely understood to be a result of Modi’s popularity and Shah’s expertise at electoral strategy. Apart from the economics of it, it’s also because a complacent opposition leaves the voter with no choice. The ruling party has managed it’s image well by managing corruption at lower levels of the government. That does not mean that it is not corrupt; it only means that the level at which it happens is not known to, or visible, at the height of the common wo/man. With it’s majority, the BJP (and its allies) could have brought in sweeping electoral reforms (election funding is one of the major reasons for corruption), but it stopped short of doing so.
It was good for India when the BJP (and its allies) came to power in 2014. The country needed a dose of fresh ideas to be infused in the development agenda. But the one thing that should not happen is for the regional parties to stop putting up a fight. This would put to risk the diversity the country takes pride in and regional interests, languages, cultures may not have sufficient representation.
For a democracy to thrive, dissent and debate are necessary and liberty and equality are the essence of a strong democracy. I had said so in an earlier post. The opposition parties, both, at the national level as well as the regional levels, seem to be at their wits end in finding a way to get their act together. The monies in the Congress party vest with one family that has lost its way in the game of politics. Given that they were in power for 50 years, corruption aside, the party does have a resource of rich experience in governance. And this has made me wonder why the party hasn’t seen a split as yet, though it has seen many defections.
The way the BJP is forging ahead, I am reminded of the concept of the ashwamedha yagna that I had read about as a child (courtesy Amar Chitra Katha). But what’s the value of a war that’s won against a weak opponent? A war is a war when it is fought among equals. And the win is, then, worth the word!
Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar, Raga Bihagada:
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