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HomeColumnWill 2019 election-battle be fought with casteist weapons? - Part I

Will 2019 election-battle be fought with casteist weapons? – Part I

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history clipartAlready having nibbled by the caste venom spreaders during the Jat reservation stirs, will Haryana have to face a new bite of the abhorrent caste-based method to fetch votes? After seeing the ineffectiveness of its religious weapon in recently held elections in some states, is BJP trying to utilise the divide and rule policy among the castes to win the race? An advertisement, carrying the photo of a BJP Mayoral candidate in a recently held Municipal Corporation elections on December 16, 2018, along with the photos of Prime Minister Modi and state’s Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar (A Punjabi by caste, but  always claims to be a Haryanavi) with BJP’s symbol printed therein, clearly shows the intention of the persons entangled in the publication of this piece to divide the community in caste segments for their electoral gains.

The advertisement, requesting to vote for a BJP candidate, reads, “Vote for BJP, because – Got the first Punjabi CM in Haryana in 52 years. If you make a mistake today, you will not get the chance again in the next 60 years. Some persons of a particular caste want to dethrone the Punjabi Chief Minister by putting and firing the gun on someone else’s shoulder. Appeal of Punjabi community – Support the Punjabi Chief Minister openly.”

Is it not a direct violation of the code of conduct by getting the advertisement published to fetch the support for the Mayoral candidate of Karnal just on the day of voting and requesting the voters’ favour on caste basis? Is it not a case of inciting caste hatred in the society during elections? Has it been got published without the knowledge and permission of the state Chief Minister and Karnal MLA Manohar Lal Khattar? Or the party is sowing the caste-coated seeds to harvest the better crop in the forthcoming assembly and parliamentary elections?  Who got this published? If there is no involvement of BJP and its Mayoral candidate in its publication, will the party and the candidate dare to demand its vigilance enquiry? Will the Election Commission take a note of it and order its enquiry or close its eyes just to ignore the incident? Many questions are raising their hands to get the answers, but who will reply and what the reply will be can reflect the working of the Election Commission and the intention of BJP.

 

BJP’s distancing and aligning strategy

The political analysis of the Municipal Corporation elections held in December 2018 in Haryana reflects that BJP has a planned undeclared elusion from Jats to attract the Non-Jats. Out of all the Mayoral candidates fielded by BJP in the five Municipal Corporations, none was Jat and the most surprising thing was that despite Jat dominated belt not even a single ward member was made its candidate on all the 22 seats by the BJP in Rohtak Municipal Corporation. However, nine Jat ward members got the win by defeating BJP candidates.

The political analysts consider that the avoidance from Jats and showing an affinity towards Non-Jats is not a current decision taken for the Municipal Corporation elections rather it’s a part of the well-planned policy of BJP since last four years in Haryana. On one side, the BJP’s own Member of Parliament Raj Kumar Saini is driving a regular campaign of bifurcating Jat-Non-Jat communities under his anti-Jat reservation stir to oppose reservation to Jats and the BJP high command is calmly watching its outcome with closed eyes. Political thinkers clearly deduce that it is not the helplessness of the party but it’s the part of the party’s well-thought step. On the second side, the Jat reservation demand raiser Yaspal Malik, President of All India Jat Sangharsh Samiti is getting full support of BJP’s Union Cabinet Minister Birender Singh on all the occasions. It is the most suitable win-win situation for BJP. By keeping alive the Jat reservation stir by propelling the fuel to its fire dome, BJP consolidates the Non-Jats in its favour by creating fear, threat, and terror of Jats in their minds.

Krishan Swarup Gorakhpuria, a political thinker and social activist, says, “Since the beginning of Jat stir, it was the political game of BJP leadership to divide the Jat-Non-Jat.”

(This is the first part of the Column and the latter part will continue on Monday.)


Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of AFTERNOON VOICE and AFTERNOON VOICE does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.
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