Related post:
WHAT MAKES MODI THE MOST POPULAR POLITICAL LEADER IN THE
COUNTRY?
http://severallyalone.blogspot.in/2013/06/what-makes-modi-most-popular-political.html
And to the benefit of Narendra Modi – is the self-styled
political class reading the writing on the wall?
Here, it is a combination of factors that may sound uneasy
(and indeed are), and may not be good for the democratic fabric of the country,
but it works well on Narendra Modi’s pro-Hindutva hardliner image.
Every political party is in (and had been in) business
of befooling the people of this country and so is the BJP.
But, who is secular and who is communal is not a question
for the majority of the Hindus who vote. Regional and caste priorities are the
major decisive factors. Development, too speaks at some places, in some
circumstances.
Secular credentials are (and have been) issues of
concern for the Muslim population as well as for the self-styled secular
political parties including the Congress but not for the Hindu majority at all,
Hindus that form over 80 per cent of the Indian population.
But the self-styled secular parties have continued to
ignore it and they didn’t face any problem in ignoring this factor until now.
The majority Hindu vote was divided across many issues (relevant
and divisive) and the rush was to catch the Muslim vote that has had a
history or more or less uniform voting and so easier to woo.
In the rush to catch this minority vote (but in
millions with Muslims forming over 13 per cent of the Indian population),
the appeasement policy adopted by the ‘secularists’ of this country has seldom
talked about the interests of the majority Hindus.
Instead, the ‘secular’ political class has chosen to
resort to adopt socially deteriorative practices to pull votes (and not
earn) by promoting a divisive line of politics that has divided the Hindus
on caste and community lines, a fissure growing deeper.
But, still, religion is a factor that blurs this line and
works well when it comes to the decisions like voting for a candidate;
decisions that are becoming increasingly impulsive with the prevalence of advertising
and over-the-top communication based loud campaigning in the elections.
Narendra Modi realizes it.
And, though, an increasing religious divide (between
Hindus and Muslims) would not do any good to the country in the long run,
it is going to benefit Modi and so the BJP in their political quest to win the
top political office of the country.
Though, a leader with national ambitions would certainly
try to rise above the religion and caste lines to become universally acceptable
and Narendra Modi has been trying for it in the recent past, he realizes that he
needs the ‘communal pro-Hindutva tag of the Gujarat riots’ to polarize
the Hindu votes across the caste-divide in the Hindu community in the immediate
run to secure his place in Delhi.
And with a clear thinking and effective and high-voltage
oratory, he may well turn the heat on the self-styled secularists targeting him
for being ‘communal, of being anti-Muslim’.
Sonia Gandhi has burnt her fingers by terming Narendra Modi ‘merchant of death’ in Gujarat elections. What happened in Gujarat
may well happen across the country.