BJP’s dream of using Karnataka as the launch pad of Hindutva ideology and politics, and spreading its tentacles to other southern states, is now shattered. The election result sends a clear message that Modi’s magic is waning, the ‘double engine sarkar’ has lost its sheen, and defeating BJP in 2024 general elections is not impossible, provided the opposition parties come together and project themselves as a reliable alternative.
Earlier, Karnataka was viewed as a progressive state where the people believed in moderation. It was the state known for reformers and noted literary personalities like Basavanna, Kovempu, R.K. Narayan, U.R. Ananthamurthy, etc. Thanks to Mr. Devraj Urs, who served as Chief Minister from 1972 to 80, Karnataka remains one of the few states in India which implemented land reforms really made an impact. The capital city of Bengaluru was then known as the garden city.
When India went for liberalization, Bengaluru emerged as the IT city, attracting huge foreign investments. Thousands of educated youth from different parts of India flocked to Bengaluru in search of jobs. Bengaluru emerged also as an educational centre, attracting students from all over India.
The changing demography of the city resulted in different problems. Karnataka needed more cities and industries. Rising prices of fertilizers affected the farmers. The government’s withdrawal of subsidies has increased the prices of all essential commodities, making it difficult for the masses. There was a need for improving rural and urban infrastructure.
Over the years, BJP has been experimenting with the Hindutva agenda and was successful in winning over a section of middle class urban Hindu voters. Although BJP did not secure the required number of seats in the assembly, it formed the government three years back by engineering defections. But after forming the government, it showed little interest in addressing the growing concerns of the people.
Instead, the state BJP leadership indulged in implementing the Hindutva agenda, rousing communal tensions through propaganda on issues over Tipu Sultan, hizab, halaal, religious conversions, love-jihad, etc. No efforts were made to trace and punish the criminals involved in the killing of progressive social activists, like M.M. Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh. While PFI was banned, the government gave a free hand to the Hindutva fringe elements to vitiate peace in the state.
In the name of NEP 2020, the government removed lessons on revolutionary and reforming leaders, and added lessons romanticizing Hindutva icons. Had the BJP government succeeded at the level of governance, it could have consolidated the gains of its Hindutva experiments to some extent, as in Uttar Pradesh.
But the government became so corrupt and inefficient that the Contractors Association was compelled to write letters to Prime Minister Modi against the state government. Modi, who promised, “Na khavunga, Na khane dhoonga” (Neither I take nor I allow others taking bribes) slept over the complaints.
In normal conditions, when it is confident about its victory, BJP talks of ‘Vikas’, meaning development. But in Karnataka, BJP virtually has little to boast of performance of its own government. It cannot talk against corruption, as its own leaders and the government faced the corruption charges. BJP wanted to neutralize the people’s discontent by putting new candidates. But this model, which worked in Gujarat, failed miserably in Karnataka.
Some powerful BJP leaders who were denied tickets fumed and joined the Congress party. BJP was good at rousing communal issues. On the eve of the elections, the BJP government withdrew the so-called reservations for the Muslims and increased the quota for the two powerful OBC communities in the state. The decision no doubt hurt the Muslim sentiments, but it failed to win over the targeted Lingayats and the Vakkaligas.
As the state BJP leaders became unpopular, BJP relied more on the national level BJP leaders, especially on the charisma of Narendra Modi. The corporate national media projected Modi’s orchestrated road shows as game changer.
Taking advantage of the Congress’s promise of ban on Bajarangdal, Modi invoked Lord Hanuman to woe the voters. National media gave such publicity to his Bajarangi campaign as if it was going to tilt the election results in favor of the BJP. But the election result mocked at these media hyped campaigns.
Everyday problems like corruption, infrastructure bottlenecks in the cities, the increasing costs of fertilizers, rising prices, growing unemployment problem, etc., mattered more to the people than issues like Tippu Sultan, Muslim reservations and Bajrangi. Caste is no doubt a factor, but class issues also became equally important to the voters. Congress party leaders understood the people’s concerns and focused on local issues in the state.
Both national and state leaders of Congress took a strategic decision to focus their campaign on the local issues. Its projection of ‘40 percent commission ‘sarkara’ caught the imagination of the voters. Its electoral promises for women, unemployed youth and BPL families also found an echo with the voters. Unlike in BJP, which tried to showcase only Modi, both national and state leaders displayed unity and worked together to reach out to the people.
While the leading national media remained biased towards BJP, social media channels helped the Congress party to reach out to the electorate. Different radical NGOs and civil society groups went to villages and slums to campaign against the BJP government. They formed voluntary forums such as ‘Eddelu Karnataka’ (Wake Up Karnataka) and reached out to the masses through street corner meetings, cultural activities, social media posts, and handouts.
Many progressive individuals, journalists, and left groups who understood the significance of the assembly elections for the future of India came to Karnataka and played their part in exposing the political regime. All these developments and efforts have influenced the minds of the voters, leading to the massive victory of Congress in the assembly elections.
The Karnataka verdict in a way shows that it is possible to defeat BJP politically and ideologically. Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra played a role in setting the background for the people of the state to think beyond communal issues and focus on real issues of concern. Rahul Gandhi inspired the state leaders to forget their differences and fight together in the elections.
The prospects of Congress would be better even in other states if the local leaders can work together burying their differences and personal aspirations. If Congress could win in Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and retain its hold over Rajasthan, it would be in a bargaining position at the national level to influence other opposition parties.
The assembly elections in Karnataka show that it is not necessary for opposition parties to take to soft hindutva to fight the BJP. It is possible to educate and organize people around the real issues confronting the masses. If there is a definite and reliable alternative, it need not be only the Congress party, the voters don’t hesitate in exercising the option.
If the opposition parties and civil society organizations could build an alternative political culture, they can wean away the people from the communal hindutva agenda. Still, it is possible to contain the Modi’s juggernaut in most other Indian states, and even pose a challenge to the saffron establishment in 2024.
Images from different sources.
[The writer teaches Political Science in NEHU, and article is first published in The Shillong Times]
06-03-2023
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