The Gujarat Electoral Verdict: Triumph of Hindutva

 

The Gujarat Electoral Verdict: Triumph of Hindutva

The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) registered the biggest electoral victory in the Election to the Gujarat Assembly held between December 1 and 5, 2022, by winning 156 seats out of 182, while the Grand Old Party- the Indian National Congress- shrank to its lowest tally with just 17 seats, losing the Leader of Opposition Status, for failing to secure 10% of seats. It is doubtful whether the BJP itself expected to sweep the polls breaking its own record of 127 seats in 2002 and the Congress’s 149 in 1985.

 

The Harvard Centre for Population and Development Studies assessed the performance of Indian states and districts on the POSHAN Abhiyan. A recent study         conducted by Geographic Insights, a research lab based at the Centre, with which the NITI Aayog collaborates, has stunning revelation that Gujarat has the lowest rank at 28 and a key performance indicator score of 0.176 compared to the top three states: Manipur at 0.919, Mizoram at 0.837 and Kerala at 0.766. Nine out of the ten districts at the bottom are tribal districts. Six of these are Adivasi districts in Gujarat. This is despite an uninterrupted rule of 27 years by the BJP, belying the claim of vibrant Gujarat.  In 2019, Gujarat figured at 21 among the Indian states, according to the UN Human Development Index.  The number of unemployed in Gujarat is around 46 lakhs.

 

The real issues of people are not reflected in the electoral outcome.  People are angry with unkept promises, collapse of public health system and education system; lack of jobs, loss of credibility of examination system with as many as 22 paper leaks, rising petrol prices, spiralling inflation, massive corruption, liquor mafia and drug mafia and incompetent administration. The educational system in Gujarat is below average. The school education is way behind other states.  Students’ communication skills are appallingly poor. Teachers’ absenteeism in schools has left to poor methods of teaching, deteriorating the quality of education. Decreasing public schools and educational institutions and rising fees of private   institutions make education unaffordable and inequitable to the poor and the marginalised, leaving the youth angry, restless and frustrated. The quality of education is so poor in Gujarat that new- age companies are reluctant to employ local students in cutting edge jobs.

 

Some other important issues, arising due to misgovernance during the past five years rule of the BJP, such as devastating effect of demonetization, hasty implementation of GST, lockdown and loss of jobs, mismanagement of corona pandemic that resulted in lakhs of deaths; illicit liquor consumption and tragic deaths periodically; the collapse of Morbi bridge that led to nearly 150 deaths, including more than 50 children have not been addressed during the election. Avoiding these real local issues, instead raising non-issues and polarising people marked the campaigning strategy of the BJP with Home Minister Amit Shah camping in Ahmedabad to personally monitor the elections.  

What then explains the unprecedented electoral victory for the saffron party? First, Gujarat is the laboratory of Hindutva. The Hindutva ideology is deeply rooted in the soil of Gujarat.  There is no other state where ‘Hinduness’ and Hindu majoritarianism are so starkly apparent.  The religious Hindu identity that seeks solace in temples, shrines, rituals, religious and spiritual leaders who have large following, like Swamy Narayan sect, likes of Morari Bapu etc., impacted wider society, influencing every aspect of life- social, cultural, economic and political. The Hindu identity has transformed into a coarse and aggressive anti-Muslim identity, which sharpened after 2014. Many Hindus believe the Muslims are rioters and traitors, who are taught a lesson during the past two decades. Amit Shah admitted at an election rally the rioters of 2002 were taught a lesson, implying the rioters were the Muslims.  Today, Gujarati Muslims, who constitute about 10% of the state population, are politically invisiblised and neutralised. They lead secluded lives in ghettoes and accept socially and politically subordinate status for the fear of retaliation if they ascertain and speak for their rights.

Arvind Narrain in his book India’s Undeclared Emergency succinctly summed up how the Hindutva ideology is percolating deep into Indian society. According to him, “The work of disseminating Hindutva ideology is carried out by the RSS and the numerous organisations it has spawned...One of the most troubling parts of the rise of Hindutva is its undoubtedly popular character…The BJP had a credible message with the electorate… The bias against the Muslim minority is not just the project of a majoritarian State but has its roots in the endeavors of the RSS and its affiliates, which have worked to create a Hindu majoritarian society.“  Ashish Khetan explains the reasons for immense popularity of the Hindutva ideology, even if it was responsible for the murders and rapes committed during the Gujarat 2002 pogrom: “ for a majority of Gujrati Hindus, their Chef Minister was a hero, especially after the riots…Modi’s legions of supporters stood firmly behind him, sweeping him to power in election after election. For them, the Gujarat riots of 2002 were to be numbered among his accomplishments, a source of pride, not shame. For them, it was a Hindu awakening.”

Second, the Hindutva ideology explains the rise of BJP and Brand Modi. The BJP penetrated in every nook and corner of Gujarat. The Party and the Sangh Parivar, especially VHP, spread over wider society, penetrated everywhere, influencing every aspect of society. The Institutions of State are subservient to the saffron brotherhood-the Sangh Parivar. And Brand Modi is bigger than Brand BJP.  To the people of Gujrat, Modi can do no wrong. The son of the soil effect. He represents the Gujarati Asmita (pride).   Modi is larger than life. A personality cult is cultivated. Some BJP leaders call him a ‘Vishnu Avatar’ or a ‘Gift of God.’ Any insult to him is an insult to Gujarati and Gujarati Asmita. This is how Modi capitalised on this during the election campaigns by spinning the remarks of some congress leaders.to his advantage. Vote for BJP is a vote for Modi; it simply doesn’t   matter who the candidates are and who the Chief Minister is, hoodwinking the real issues.  In fact, many of the voters not heard of the name of their Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel. It is a one man show.  That is how Modi addressed as many as 35 public meetings during the election, emerging as the main poll plank.

Third, the same corollary extends to the youth. Some 10 million first time voters in this election had never seen Congress rule. Most of them voted for Modi as they were born during the BJP rule. They are loyal to Modi. And to them, just like to their elders, it is matter of pride to vote for BJP as it is a vote for Modi. This blind endorsement is revealed in the BJP’s emphatic win in Morbi district. In a region where nearly 150 people were killed in the bridge collapse, due to criminal negligence of corrupt administration, sparking tremendous public outrage and anger, the BJP won all the three seats by significant margin, making a mockery of the tragic incident.  This has been the story of voting pattern in Gujarat when it comes to crucial issues; people indifferent and unconcerned, as if they are not affected by the hard real issues, like the demonetisation, the GST and the lockdown and loss of jobs, being impacted by the Hindutva ideology and the personality cult of Modi.  

Therefore, the credit for the massive victory obviously goes to Narendra Modi who used all public and party resources at his command. Retaining Gujarat was a matter of personal prestige for him. “The voters seemed to be nursing the belief that it was in their own interest that Modi should remain strong as the Prime Minister, for which Gujarat should remain firmly in his control” (Editorial, FPJ 9/12). The BJP and its leaders successfully polarised the people, arousing their religious sentiments, by invoking the Ram Temple, Article 370, Kashmir, Pakistan etc. The Editorial in The Hindustan Times (9/12), makes an opt remark: "Modi may be PM, but the result of this assembly election suggests that in Gujarat, he is perhaps Chief Minister for life.”  The election process in the state was not a level playing field in terms of enormous money power and unlimited resources at the disposal of the BJP, Prime Minister and Home Minister and all its Union Ministers and Chief Ministers, who campaigned and camped in Gujarat.  Who paid for the numerous rallies of Modi and Shah and others? From where could they generate such huge money? The elections commission failed to enforce the moral code of conduct as an impartial umpire conducting free and fair elections.

The electoral verdict in Gujarat is unrelated to the real issues of people. It is a triumph of religio-political ecosystem-the Hindutva. It is victory of jingoism and linguistic chauvinism. The fact that the Brand Modi didn’t succeed in MCD election and the Assembly election in Himachal Pradesh is an indication that religious polarisation no longer fetches votes outside Gujarat and that the Brand getting eroded. Perhaps, this could be the beginning of an end of the saffron raj and the Modi era.