By Rajeev Khanna, IANS
Ahmedabad : Caste, and not communal issues, will dominate the coming assembly elections in Gujarat in contrast to what happened five years ago, says social scientist and social activist Achyut Yagnik.
And this is bound to pose a major challenge to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that has ruled the state for more than a decade, said Yagnik, a veteran observer of Gujarati society.
“Caste has acquired a new meaning as compared to the earlier times. This has led to identity politics acquiring a different form,” Yagnik told IANS in an interview.
To substantiate his view, he gave examples of several caste specific events that have been organised in the last few months in the state in which more political representation was sought on the basis of caste.
He said that it was perhaps for the first time in Gujarat that more than 100,000 Brahmins came together in Rajkot in September.
“Political leaders across the party lines shared the platform. Attending the meeting were Suresh Mehta, the dissident BJP leader from Kutch, and also Nalin Bhatt, now the face of the BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party) in the state. The Brahmins aired the demand for 30 seats for their community in the assembly,” said Yagnik.
Yagnik’s latest book is “The Shaping of Modern Gujarat: Plurality, Hindutva and Beyond”. He authored it along with Suchitra Sheth, an alumni of the Ahmedabad-based National Institute of Design. Gujarat will see elections Dec 11 and 16.
Yagnik said that a couple of months ago the Prajapatis, a caste mainly into the vocation of pottery, had also organised a meet on similar lines in Surat and had turned up in strength to seek more political representation.
“There was a Patel meet in Rajkot. Earlier, only Patels were known to have organised such meets. Now even the tribal events are being organised on similar lines. For example, the Gamits and Choudharies have held events on caste or group lines.”
This, Yagnik said, had led to a contradiction when seen from the viewpoint of the votaries of Hindutva.
“Earlier there were talks in terms of one Hindu society. Now it is on the basis of caste. Hence, Hindutva is becoming meaningless.
“Earlier people used to raise issues through various Sangh Parivar outfits like Kisan Sangh,” he said, referring to groups linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS). “Now the channels have changed, the demands are being aired on the platform of caste. This is a real challenge for the BJP.”
This, Yagnik reasoned, is why Chief Minister Narendra Modi was adopting a multi-pronged approach in his campaign speeches.
“He now talks not only of Hindutva but also of good governance, development and criticises the central government for its failure to check inflation and raises the issues of internal security. Incidentally, he attacks only the Congress and not the other allies of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).”
Just five years ago, it had seemed in Gujarat that only Hindu religious consciousness would matter. And it did play a key role in helping Modi to lead the BJP to a thumping win in the December 2002 assembly elections.
The social scientist is of the opinion that the politics of caste has seen a considerable change from the formulation of the KHAM (Kshatriya-Harijan-Adivasi-Muslim) strategy by the Congress in the 1980s.
With the Congress playing according to the rules of the KHAM strategy, the Patels – forming a socially, politically and economically dominant caste in the state – moved away from the Congress.
Yagnik asserts that the Patels see themselves as the backbone of the BJP in the state. This was also the case with the Koli community that had been weaned away from the Congress by Shankarsinh Vaghela when he was state BJP president.
He says that today the equations were again undergoing a change. The Kolis are divided in their support to the BJP since Vaghela is now a face of the Congress in Gujarat.
Similarly, With Keshubhai Patel leading a dissident movement against Modi, a majority of Leuva Patels (sect of Patels to which Keshubhai belongs) are now ranged against Modi and the BJP.
“However, the Kadwa Patels are still with Modi along with some of the Aanjna Patels. So it will be a very interesting situation once the poll process gets under way,” said Yagnik.