PM’s silence on crucial issues can hurt BJP in election-bound UP
IN EFFECT, THE PM HAS SETTLED INTO A MODEL OF COMMUNICATION WHERE HE TWEETS MOSTLY GOOD NEWS & OUTRAGE ON TERRORISM
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence has been striking amid the bloodshed in Kashmir, the public flogging of Dalits by cow protection activists in Gujarat, and a senior BJP leader’s unacceptable comments about BSP leader Mayawati. The Congress went on the offensive on this issue on Friday. Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal questioned why the PM had not made a statement on ongoing developments, including China’s comments about casualties in Kashmir.
The BJP’s response has been led by home minister Rajnath Singh and others in Parliament and by party spokespersons on television. But there seems to be a conscious attempt by BJP to insulate Modi from these events — to keep the PM above the fray and humdrum of everyday politics.
The pattern seems to be that Modi himself will not speak on awkward matters but will spell out his views through ministers. Jitendra Singh, minister of state in the PMO, emerged from a meeting on Kashmir and said the PM has “appealed for calm”. Rajnath told Parliament that the PM is very much pained about Kashmir’s suffering and later conveyed the PM was “very upset” about the flogging of Dalits.
In effect, the PM has settled into a model of communication where he tweets mostly good news (and outrage on terrorism), lists achievements, and dishes out homilies on radio shows, have the odd email and TV interview, solicits votes in election rallies but will rely on others to do the fire-fighting when the going gets tough.
This has a particular logic to it. It elevates the PM to a plane that is above political combat; it underlines the impression that he has no peer in India’s political life. This is a useful veneer to cultivate since Arvind Kejriwal is doing his best to ‘normalise’ Modi by directly attacking him from time to time.
This strategy worked fine and suited the BJP when the focus was on targeting Muslims and urban liberals. But Dalit disaffection is a different matter altogether. The BJP cannot afford to unite Dalit opinion against it after already alienating Muslims. Dalits comprise 20.7% of UP’s population and they make a formidable force when aligned with Muslims who account for 18% in the state. The BJP has relied on splitting the Dalit vote to defeat Mayawati but this public flogging of youth can consolidate opinion that the BJP is instinctively anti-Dalit.
And this is where Modi’s cultivated detachment becomes a liability. His exuberant foreign visits, his blithely going about official routines while Dalits are incensed over the violence they are subjected to will certainly rankle. It is worth noting that the BJP cannot take the support of the ‘upper castes’ for granted once the Dalit-Muslim consolidation is discernible.
The PM may see no political gain from comforting Kashmiris. But there will be a huge price to pay if there is no firm action on SC/ST Act violations and consistent messaging about Dalits.