Hindu, Hinduer, Hinduest: Will The 'Hindu Vote' Decide 2019?

Congress president Rahul Gandhi chose the 14th-century temple of Brahma in Pushkar, Ajmer, in poll-bound Rajasthan, to furnish his Brahminical credentials바카라�a Kaul Kashmiri Brahmin of Dattatreya gotra. It was done unobtrusiv­ely, almost naturally, during the course of a puja on November 26. Mere detail? A banal formality one encounters when, say, filling up a form? Well, not quite. The act spoke volumes, and eloquently. Culminating a series of public gestures, made in the backdrop of competing gestures, it framed a fundamental shift in India바카라�s political climate. If one asks what the key difference is between the 2014 general election and the upcoming one, it could be this. 바카라�Congress vs BJP바카라� was once categorised, even if not very neatly, as 바카라�secular vs communal바카라�. An overt touch of 바카라�Hindu vs Hindutva바카라� has now coloured that equation. The Congress offers a nuanced gradation there, but it바카라�s a risky tactic that seems to be setting off a domino effect바카라�with unforeseen consequences.

It was last year, in the run-up to the Gujarat assembly elections, that Rahul Gandhi was declared to be a janeu-dhaari Brahmin (one who wears the sacred thread). Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala offered that in response to a taunt, during a press conference, about Rahul being allegedly listed in the register for 바카라�non-Hindus바카라� during a visit to the Somnath temple. That taunt, of course, has its own, very public history바카라�the frequent invoking of his mother Sonia Gandhi바카라�s Italian birth and imprecations referencing 바카라�Rome바카라� and 바카라�the Vatican바카라�. But it바카라�s the new Congress response that바카라�s interesting. What was then der­ided by the BJP as his 바카라�Temple Run바카라� is still going full steam ahead during the last set of crucial assembly elections bef­ore the Big Battle of 2019. This exhibitionistic 바카라�Hinduness바카라� isn바카라�t limited to temple visits or other markers of religiosity. The tactic is visible on the policy front too: take the populist stance on the Sabarimala controversy, and a perceptible retraction from an overt 바카라�pro-Muslim바카라� space.

That a rivalrous play for the Hindu space is instead afoot is evident by now; the Congress, unwilling to cede the whole ground to the BJP, is making an unabashed play for it to ensure voter sympathies don바카라�t automatically gra­vi­tate to the other side. The blundering BJP spokesperson, Sambit Patra, had called Rahul바카라�s temple visits 바카라�fancy-­dress Hinduism바카라� and raised questions about his 바카라�gotra바카라�. Rahul had shot back that he understands Hind­uism better than the BJP and no group has a monopoly over it. He made a distinction between the BJP바카라�s Hind­utva바카라�which he characterised as 바카라�hatred, insecurity and anger바카라�바카라�and the Congress바카라�s belief in Hinduism as a 바카라�liberal, progressive concept that teaches love and respect for others바카라�. Congress leader Kamal Nath echoes him, say­ing the BJP has no 바카라�proprietorship바카라� over Hinduism.

The BJP, of course, is in no mood to sit back and surrender its turf. At one end, they are joining the battle of rhetoric, beyond the likes of Patra. Union finance minister Arun Jaitley claims a difference between a Hinduism of 바카라�convenience바카라� and one of 바카라�conviction바카라�. BJP vice-president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, a Rajya Sabha MP, says that when the Congress was led by the likes of Mahatma Gandhi, his political mentor Gopal Krishna Gokhale had advocated the 바카라�spiritualisation of politics바카라�. 바카라�Unfortunately, now the Congress seems to be doing exactly the opposite. They are hell-bent on pol­iticising spirituality,바카라� adds the MP.

At the other end, the BJP is lurching further to the right, ratcheting up passions over Hindutva totems like Ayod­hya, allowing that to spice up the pre-electoral weather. It too has shifted from 2014바카라�s jaded 바카라�development바카라� plank, and the timing is just right. The fight is only going to get more intense closer to Summer 2019, with crucial heartland states like Uttar Pradesh seen to be resp­onding to the politics of religion. Hindutva바카라�s main theatre Ayodhya saw hundreds of sadhu-sants on November 25, congregating for the VHP 바카라�dharam sabha바카라� to discuss the way forward for speedy temple construction. Slogans of 바카라�Jai Shri Ram바카라� rent the air, reminiscent of the days prior to the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition. Just the right soil for the Shiv Sena, which has been electorally off-colour, to try and sprout again.

Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray left his stronghold in Maharashtra and descended on Ayodhya to 바카라�wake up Kumbhkaran, who has been asleep for four years바카라�. He was referring to alliance partner BJP, which has been promising the temple for 바카라�days, months, years and generations바카라�, but doing nothing. Denied permission to hold a rally by the Yogi Adityanath government, Thackeray left behind visuals of him performing a 바카라�maha aarti바카라� on the banks of river Sarayu amid thronging crowds. He demanded a date from the BJP-led government at the Centre to see a Ram temple realised. 바카라�The Hindus have waited long enough,바카라� he said.

The same day, as if on cue, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat too waxed impatient about the delay in temple construction at a 바카라�Hunkaar rally바카라� organised by the VHP in Nagpur. 바카라�No need to wait for the Supreme Court decision,바카라� he said: it does not appear to be a priority for the court, so the time has come to mobilise people and demand a law. Ironically, this strongly recalled the words of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, except that was on Sabarimala.

The 112-page Congress manifesto for Madhya Pradesh could, in fact, be easily mistaken for the BJP바카라�s. Titled 바카라�Vachan Patra바카라�, it promises an 바카라�adhyatmik vibhag바카라� (spiritual department) in the state government and pledges to promote Sanskrit, besides setting up gaushalas (cowsheds), developing a Ram gaman path바카라�the route taken by Lord Rama during his 14-year exile바카라�and commercial production of 바카라�gaumutra바카라� (cow urine) and 바카라�kanda바카라� (cowdung cakes).

What바카라�s striking is not just that the nar­rative in election season, all of a sudden, is all about gau raksha, Ram gaman path, temples, religion and gotra. Nor that voices espousing 바카라�the cause바카라� have bec­ome shriller and louder. Inst­ead, it바카라�s that the position the Congress has taken is pushing it to be part of the chorus in some ways. For a party that has regularly attacked the BJP for its saffron agenda, how will its striving to be a 바카라�better Hindu바카라� play out, say, if there바카라�s an executive or legislative move on Ayodhya?

Sahasrabuddhe believes the Congress, having failed to keep its traditional voters despite 바카라�crass votebank politics바카라�, is now trying to 바카라�take as many holy dips as possible바카라�. Voters are not going to be swayed by the hypocrisy of it talking of cow protection while opposing the temple in Ayodhya, he says. Obviously, the Congress gambit isn바카라�t going to stay unchallenged. The BJP, for instance, leaked an old video of Kamal Nath meeting Muslim leaders and compla­ined to the Election Commission that the party is seeking votes in the name of religion. UP CM Adityanath latched on to that and said, 바카라�The Congress only wants Muslim votes. Kamal Nath can keep Ali, we have Bajrang Bali.바카라� Kamal Nath responded promptly with a visit to a Hanuman temple in his con­stituency Chhindwara. 바카라�I haven바카라�t seen such an issue-less election, where dev­elopment isn바카라�t being talked about even as a formality,바카라� says a Congress veteran, sceptical of the efficacy of competitive Hinduism. It바카라�s unfortunate that nob­ody is talking about real issues, he says바카라�바카라�the situation is ridiculous바카라�.

Political scientist Sudha Pai too rues that all the Hindutva noise is drowning iss­ues like joblessness and farm distress. 바카라�These are peculiar elections. They are not talking about economic issues. I don바카라�t think just Hindutva is a good strategy. It may backfire,바카라� she says. However, she admits the theme of religion can바카라�t be ign­ored in this battle바카라�it바카라�s after all a race for the majority Hindu votebank. The fight in 2014, as also in the 2017 UP assembly polls, was still about managing the flow of OBC and Dalit votes. 바카라�In UP, the BJP managed to bring together identity and development,바카라� she says. This time, that바카라�s changed to an amorphous 바카라�Hindu vote바카라�.

R. Balashankar, right-wing commentator and former editor of Organiser, says efforts to create a 바카라�Hindu votebank바카라�바카라�in the works for the past three decades바카라�have finally succee­ded. 바카라�The 2014 result showed it is possible for a Hindu constituency to win elections. It had not been possible till then,바카라� he says. Earlier, pol­itical wisdom dictated that if a party had to win UP, it must have Muslims on its side since they account for 20 per cent of the population. Ditto for Assam (34 per cent). And elsewhere in the Northeast or Goa, one needed Christians. 바카라�All this has changed now,바카라� Balashankar adds.

Divided along caste lines, Hindus were never seen as a solid vote bloc until VHP co-founder Swami Chinmayananda moo­ted the idea of a Hindu votebank in the late 1980s. The BJP saw a long deb­ate on how to come to power, and tried various experiments, including L.K. Advani바카라�s brief overture to the other side with his visit to Karachi in 2005, where he described Jinnah as 바카라�secular바카라� (and changed tack soon enough). The narrative began changing before 2014, once Narendra Modi offered a viable Hindutva face appealing across castes.

Pavan Varma, JD(U) general secretary, sees the present shift as a course correction by the Congress. 바카라�Many parties took the segregation of Hindu votes for granted and bent over backward to cultivate minority votes. It started with the Shah Bano case,바카라� he tells Outlook. 바카라�Secularism바카라� entailed accommodating the feelings of Muslims as Muslims, as with the Rushdie controversy, not as citizens with real-life grievances. 바카라�With a right-wing party in power that바카라�s seen as openly pandering to a religion, others needed the course correction. To ack­nowledge the sentiments of the majority was long overdue바카라�the backlash had been mounting,바카라� Varma explains. It바카라�s not the inflammatory, divisive and abusive turf marked out by either the Hindu ultra-right or the ulema that he sees as worth pursuing, but a 바카라�middle ground바카라�. He says: 바카라�Away from the clutches of the mullahs and mahants will emerge the synthesis between the thesis and the antithesis.바카라� Others may see that embodied already within the Constitution.