India votes; Modi vs. the Rest
The world’s largest democracy has begun voting this week for a new Parliament. The process will go on for some weeks till the dust settles and final results are known. The slanging match between the ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress and its allies has reached a crescendo. PM Narendra Modi has referred to himself as the Chowkidar, an Urdu phrase coming from British India when the police stations were known as Chowki and the lower ranker on duty were known as the Chowkidar (the Watchman). Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has called him Chowkidar Chorhai (the Watchman thief). Both Messrs. Modi and Gandhi have pledged to put the other in jail after the elections – such is the intensity of the campaign.
The elections should be of some interest here, though this time, Sri Lanka is not on the Indian political agenda as it was some years back. Even in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, where the issue of the minority Tamils in Sri Lanka was an emotive albeit politically motivated issue, the deaths of its leaders Karunanidhi, MGR and Jayalalitha who would feed on the situation in Sri Lanka, have seen Sri Lanka-bashing fade into the dustbin of history. The reverberations of Tamil Nadu sentiments of yesteryear had a visible impact on New Delhi’s Sri Lanka policy due to coalition compulsions, but not any more. The BJP Government did not need the support of regional parties when it won in 2014, but political analysts predict the party will be returned to office this time round only with a lesser majority, which then might witness the rise of regional parties exerting their influence on New Delhi’s policy.
Narendra Modi’s BJP Government has been flayed for not delivering on its promises of 2014. This, in turn, has made them fall back on their comfort zone of drumming ‘nationalism’ as their primary platform for re-election. The recent skirmish with Pakistan has come as a Godsend to whip up patriotic zeal among the masses and add some masala to their Hindutva policy. Mr. Modi keeps referring to the “surgical strikes” he ordered on Pakistan and his opponents complain that he is now implementing “surgical strikes” on his opponents at home. His acolytes say that it is the BJP that gives bombs and bullets to the Pakistani terrorists, while the Congress gives them biriyani.
The use of the Pakistan bogey and external adventures for electioneering purposes are not new in India, and the Congress cannot complain when its past leaders have done the same. The best example is when India under Indira Gandhi intervened in the creation of Bangladesh, called elections soon thereafter, and won easily. Similarities between the BJP and Sri Lanka’s Joint Opposition extend beyond the commonality of their party symbol – the lotus bud.
The Congress and its allies, on the other hand, have launched a NYAY scheme – a minimum income guarantee and targeted the farmers, once the base of the BJP to see them home.This coalition has taken a more secular line and is expected to win the votes of the minorities in India. The similarities with Sri Lanka’s ruling UNP cannot be missed.