By Mohammed Zubeer Ahmed,
The election results of Bihar are indeed unprecedented in the history of independent India. India has never witnessed such keen interest in state elections by an entire country. The demonstration of such interest is seen because the elections were held in the backdrop of growing intolerance and centralization of the nation’s political power. As a result, almost all the sections of people, political leaders and civil society organizations, directly or indirectly found interest in the outcome of Bihar’s mandate. The results were shocking for few, but a moment of rejoice for many.
For the leaders of BJP like, PM Narendra Modi, party president Amit Shah and their coterie in the party, the results were a complete setback. They were in the forefront in forming a pre-poll alliance, distribution of seats, devising a poll strategy, and ran the campaign under the personality cult of PM Modi and Shah. In the process, they disregarded the local leaders, who became mere cheerleaders for imposed pronouncements, largely by the leaders from outside the state.
The defeat is a healthy sign for a national party like BJP because the top leaders were blinded by power, and were going overboard in their actions. They began considering themselves larger than the party organization. Therefore the verdict of the people had clearly shown to the leaders that it is the collective electoral mandate that decides their destiny but never the charisma and stature of a leader. The results have once again made it loud and clear, the opinion of the voter is powerful than that of the leader in a democracy. This rock-solid fact should be accepted wholeheartedly by the leaders of BJP.
The factors like, neglecting the local leaders during elections, who are the pillars of national political parties in a federal system; going in to the fray without a face of CM, where the voter looks up to a leader with regional pride; the centralized management of elections with the support of outside leaders; who were out of sync with the complex nature of Bihari politics; eschewing the plank of development in the midway and resorting to communally polarized politics; hasn’t paid any dividends, instead, all these have dented the fortunes of the party.
The myths such as, the personality cult of Modi as an invincible and that he is the only strong leader in India, Shah as a clever and matchless poll strategist, the unparalleled strength of RSS cadre to win elections etc, are all debunked. These elections have proven that mere big-ticket announcements amounting to thousands of crores, that too just before elections; the number of high power packed rallies by PM and party president; are just not sufficient to catch the attention of voters. Rather. , the electorate wants their pride to be upheld, their identity to be recognized, security to be provided and their freedom to be safeguarded. On all these counts, the party failed to convince the voter. Before and during elections, the ministers and top leaders of BJP and RSS, have made inflammatory comments, which were against the democratic ethos and thus did not go well with the common masses.
Both NDA and Mahagathbandhan, have offered freebies, plans for social and economic development for Bihari voters, in their respective election manifestos. Therefore, on manifesto front, both the alliances were equal in the eyes of the voter. The stark difference was in their stands in upholding the individual rights of the Indian citizen, which are enshrined in the constitution. If there is commitment and vision in the leadership, in no time, development can be kick started by formulating the prudent policies and enforcing them.
However, the bonding material of society such as: camaraderie, trust, coexistence and mutual respect cannot be acquired in a short span of time. They are neither available in the open bazaars, nor can be created by a strong leader of the nation. This material has to be made over long period of time, investing; the sense of conciliations, endurance, equality, justice in the plural society. To put it plainly, our nation achieved “the idea of India” through such arduous perseverance.
There has been a section of people in India, who have been plotting to destroy the idea of India. They want to create a bonfire with plurality of India. In its place, they would like to impose their brand of Hindu majoritarianism. For about 100 years, their attempts were restricted to some locality, therefore, they were considered as a fringe group and their politics was dismissed as localized activity. In recent months, they have become more vocal and their activities picked up pace. Instead of stopping these groups, the central government has been paying mere lip service, which shows that there is a tacit agreement between BJP and its broader RSS cousins. This argument gets further credence because some of the BJP ministers and party leaders found endorsing the fringe’s activities through their statements.
The government is also engaged in advancing the RSS agenda through systematic changes in the state institutions. It purged all those heads of institutions who were appointed by the former government, or their ideology is not in conformity with RSS. In their place, the government has been appointing its own people. The process has started to revise the school textbooks, and incorporate RSS brand Hindutva. Creative people like artists, scholars and activists; who refused to toe the line of RSS are labeled as anti- national. Those opposing parties, groups and individuals to the BJP are declared as Pakistani clique. Therefore, only blaming the violent ones, and calling them as fringes of RSS would be naive on our part.
All those who were feeling suffocated with the state of affairs after the elections of 2014, felt a sigh of relief with the outcome of Bihar. These results enthused energy in opposition parties, which is a good sign for India’s democracy. On the premise of 2014 parliamentary elections outcome, some leaders of BJP and RSS organizations started taking the citizens for granted on their side. But the citizens, who care for constitutional values think otherwise, therefore they handed crushing defeat to high decibel illiberal leaders and their party in Bihar. These elections are supposed be an eye opener for all those who take oath in the name of the constitution, but have selective respect for it. Will it be?
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( Author is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Janki Devi Memorial College, University of Delhi.)