TCN News
New Delhi: It is reasonable to assume that the outcry following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s overtly anti-Muslim speech in Rajasthan, where he warned people that “the Congress would distribute people’s hard-earned money and property to infiltrators” and “those who have more children” and that it would not even leave gold and mangalsutra of mothers and sisters”.
Even though the prime minister framed his story around the assertion that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had once made and used it to suggest that the grand old party supports Muslims, this flagrant dog whistling revealed the desperation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) shortly after the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections ended.
Singh made the aforementioned remarks on December 9, 2006, during the National Development Council meeting. He had stated that funds needed to support the advancement of women, children, minorities, backward classes and members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes must be set aside. According to him, India needs a plan for the development of minorities so that they, especially the Muslim minority, are “empowered to share equitably the fruits of development”.
According to the Model Code of Conduct, no party or candidate may engage in any actions that could exacerbate already-existing animosities, foster hostility amongst groups or lead to conflict between various castes and communities, whether they be linguistic or religious.
No caste or communal sentiments may be invoked to win support. Places of worship, such as churches, mosques or temples are not permitted to serve as platforms for election propaganda.
Furthermore, under Section 123(3) of the Representation of the People (RP) Act, 1951, it is considered a corrupt electoral practice when a candidate or any other person with the approval of a candidate appeals to vote or not to vote on the basis of that candidate’s race, religion, caste, community or language. Any attempt by a candidate to incite animosity or hostility among voters on these grounds during an election has been denounced under Section 123(3A). A person convicted of using corrupt electoral practices may be prohibited from running for office for a maximum of six years.
During his electoral meeting on April 22 in Banswara, Rajasthan, Modi flagrantly broke both this code and the RPA, 1951, with the intention of not only appealing to communal feelings, but also inciting anti-Muslim sentiments.
Why would Modi, whose party hopes to win over 400 seats in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, make such a strong effort to demonise the Congress by publicly opposing Muslims in a way that would look outrageous even by the deplorable standards of his own party members?
The BJP has been openly mocking the Congress and the INDIA alliance and seems sure of a third term for Modi even as a cautious stance that raises questions about what might happen if the Congress wins seems strange at this juncture.
Modi choosing to speak in a harsh, Hindutva-laden tone and not even hesitating to publicly naming the Muslim community by referring them as “those with more children” is consistent with the fact that the speech was given at a time when voter turnout in states like Rajasthan for the Lok Sabha elections has declined in comparison to the 2019 general elections.
For instance, on April 19, Rajasthan registered about 58% polling. In 2019, when the BJP secured all 25 seats in the state when the voter turnout was 63.71%, which was a significantly higher percentage.
Is the BJP concerned about the significantly lower voter turnout? Had the response to the query been negative and the BJP had been confident of a landslide victory, no one would not have witnessed the saffron brigade’s attempts to center the election’s agenda around Hindutva, which culminated in Modi’s address.
It is important to acknowledge that Modi had to use such divisive language, but it is also true that the BJP and Congress are no longer facing off as one-sided as it was in 2019.
At Banswara, where Modi delivered the controversial speech, the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP), which is attracting sizable crowds in support of its candidate and sitting MLA from Chorasi, Rajkumar Roat, has got backing from the Congress.
People’s support for Roat cannot be disregarded, even though the BJP is depending on Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya, a Congress turncoat.
Had it been done by an Opposition leader, the Election Commission would have taken note of the controversial remarks. The contentious parts of his speech, which violated the Model Code of Conduct, would not have been removed from the lengthy English-language synopsis of Modi’s speech.
However, the EC refrained from commenting on the matter.
Despite being rocked by bank account freezing, searches by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and leaders deserting the party, the Congress managed to come up with a progressive electoral manifesto.
The BJP’s desperate attempt to quell polarization is evident in the contrived way that Modi infused his address with a communal bent, even going so far as to declare that women’s wealth will be redistributed after taking a stock of their gold holdings.
During his administration, an extraordinary move, Modi oversaw the first-ever sale and mortgage of gold jewellery belonging to Indian women.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh recently noted that India’s households now have the greatest levels of debt (40% of GDP) due to economic calamities like demonetisation, an ill-conceived GST, an unannounced lockout and inadequate COVID rescue measures. Net savings or 5% of GDP are at an all-time low. Families are in a distressed and desperate situation because they are compelled to sell their gold or take out loans by mortgaging it.
“Modi’s tenure will be remembered for overseeing the unprecedented sale and mortgage of gold jewellery owned by women. They were forced to forfeit gold worth more than Rs 60,000 crore as collateral during the epidemic alone as a result of the Centre’s utter incompetence, carelessness and neglect. People put their gold up for sale with full-page advertisements,” he said.