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The results of the November 25 elections to the four state assemblies of Delhi,
Rajasthan, M.P, and Mizoram point to the deep-rooted crisis in the so-called
Indian parliamentary democracy and hatred and indifference on the part of the
masses towards the parliamentary parties in general. It was a negative vote on a
massive scale. The fact that the same people, whose vote had put the BJP
-coalition in power at the centre in February 98, have outrightly rejected them
even more massively in less than nine months, shows the fragility of the
political system and the fragility of the social base of every political party.
The pattern of voting in the election shows that the frustration with the BJP
was all-pervasive, not excluding its strongest bastions. If a mid-term poll were
to be held now, the BJP would be literally swept away by a tide of negative
vote. Yet it continues to rule, formulate and implement policies in the name of
democracy.
It is not just the BJP Any party, for that matter, may be trounced as massively
as it is elected within a few months or even days after the farce called
election. The frustration of the masses towards a party within such a short span
of time shows the nature of the crisis afflicting the society, the readiness of
the masses to reject the parliamentary parties if revolutionary alternatives are
available, and that they can be rallied into extra-parliamentary channels. Thus
it is basic issues like food, clothing and shelter that play the decisive role
and not national chauvinist frenzy or religious fanaticism or the communal card.
The November 25 elections has made this crystal-clear: the Hindutva card,
Pokhran, Swadeshi, Women's Reservation Bill and such other populist rhetoric
were found to be of no relevance whatsoever to the mass psyche when they are
weighed down by the intolerable burden of price rise, unemployment, social and
economic insecurity, suicide deaths, spectre of communal riots and
fast-dwindling living standards.
The features that stand out prominently and conspicuously in the recently
held elections are: one, the rejection of the BJP is not confined to a
particular region or state but is all-round. Two, the BJP suffered its most
humiliating defeat even in its strongest bastions and, three, so massive was the
negative vote that the BJP was defeated not by narrow margins but with a
considerable majority of votes.
In Delhi, the BJP is almost wiped out, having won just 15 out of 69 seats. The
Congress capitalised on the negative votes by bagging 51 seats. Three BJP
ministers or former ministers were humbled and even the incumbent Chief
Minister, Sushma Swaraj, won with a narrow margin. It was the worst defeat
suffered by the BJP since 1952 in Delhi.
In Rajasthan, the BJP lost almost two-thirds of its 1993 tally. It bagged a mere
33 out of the 197 seats for which elections were held while the Congress secured
150 seats. Three-fourths of BJPs incumbent ministers lost the election.
In M.P., the Congress won 174 seats against BJP's 120 in a house of 320 seats.
In Mizoram, it was the ruling Congress that was thrown out completely with the
incumbent Chief Minister too having lost his seat. Congress got just 6 seats in
40-member Mizoram Assembly while the Mizo National Front-Mizo People's
Conference combine secured three-fourths majority.
In all the states, the BJP lost in its traditional strongholds. For instance, it
was wiped out in the Jat-dominated segment of outer Delhi and resettlement
colonies of East Delhi, considered to be the bastions of the BJP It suffered a
humiliating defeat in the 'Rajput belt' in Rajasthan and the 'Malwa' region in
MP, hitherto considered to be its strongest forts. In the Malwa region, it had a
strong base since the mid-1960s and held its stead even when it faced adverse
current elsewhere but in the recent election two former chief ministers and
another aspirant were defeated. Even more humiliating was its defeat in such
strongholds as Indore, Dhar, Ujjain and Mandsaur. In Chattisgarh, which is being
carved out as a separate state with BJP's initiative, its dreams of bagging at
least 60 out of the 90 seats were dashed and it secured a mere 35 seats.
What are the reasons for this humiliating defeat of the Hindutva forces in the
very Hindu-Hindi heartland ? What prospects do these results hold for the future
of the Indian polity ?
Escalating prices of essential items, especially foodgrains and vegetables,
and government's impotence and utter inability to control the prices for months
together allowing the traders to have a field day; the growing attacks or the
religious minorities, particularly the Muslims and Christians, by the Sangh
Parivar that had isolated them completely from these religious communities; the
partial erosion of BJPs social base among the moderate and secular-minded Hindus
after the revelation in the recently released Srikrishna Commission Report and
the increasingly intolerant attitude exhibited by the RSS-YHP-Bajrang Dal and
other Hindutva forces aided by the BJP government and communal actions such as
making the singing of Yande Mataram and the Saraswati Vandana in schools
compulsory etc.; the disillusionment with the "swadeshi" Mantra of the BJP
govt. which actually came to mean implementing the videshi-dictated policy of
globalisation, liberalisation, privatisation even more loyally than its
predecessor governments as shown by the Insurance Regulatory Authority Bill
approved by the BJP cabinet recommending 40% foreign capital, the Patent bill
that seeks to give wide concessions to imperialist TNCs and a host of other
pro-imperialist measures; the open squabbles between the BJP leaders including
the one between the Prime Minister and the Home Minister and the dog-fights in
most of its units; the advocacy of stringent capital punishment and use of
extreme force to ensure 'good governance' - these, in the main, served to unseat
the BJP in these states.
The results show that the people remain unimpressed by the Hindutva's fascist
agenda, by the euphoria and Jingoism raked up in the wake of Pokhran nuclear
explosion and the claim of placing India by the side of the big five nuclear
powers, by the talk of super highways and expressways across the length and the
breadth of the country, by the 'swadeshi' mantra, by the anti-Pak war hysteria,
by the rhetoric of "liberating" all Hindu temples like the Ram Janambhoomi, and
so on. The "charisma" of the "able" Prime Minister had vanished into thin air in
just nine months' time. What the people want is food, clothing and shelter;
communal amity and religious tolerance; social and economic security and not
some abstract, intangible "national pride" that does not fill an empty stomach.
The Hindu fascist forces should be fought back and defeated.
Ever since the BJP-led coalition assumed power at the centre, the actions of
Hindu fascist forces have grown more aggressive. After the Sikhs and Muslims,
now it has become the turn of the Christians to bear the brunt of the Hindutva
attacks : the rape of Christian nuns in Jhabua in MP in Sept.- 98 was praised by
the VHP leaders as an act of patriotism; Churches are attacked in Gujarat and
elsewhere; the Muslim mosques are continuing to be a target of these Hindu
fanatics as seen in the attempts of VHP-Bajrang Dal to demolish the
Bababudangiri shrine - a sufi shrine in Chikmaglur in Karnataka; Muslim women
are raped as witnessed in Gujarat; making the recitation of Saraswati Vandana
mandatory in schools thus imposing it on the religious minorities and of course,
on reluctant Hindus; issuing of 'Fatwahs' not to allow the Pakistan cricket team
to play on Indian soil; and such other insane acts have become intolerable.
The motto of the RSS to "Indianise, nationalise and spiritualise" the content of
education in schools and colleges that is being proposed by the Human Resources
Development minister M.M. Joshi, the introduction of Home-Keeping courses for
women to confine them to their home in tune with their acclaimed Hindu
tradition, proposals to make Sanskrit and Vedas-Upanishads compulsory from the
primary stage which is already being followed in RSS-run schools, and so on,
hold dangerous portents for India. What is even more disturbing is that History
is being totally distorted; the saffron historians are replacing the genuine
ones in institutions of repute; sweeping purges are made in all the
centrally-funded research institutes such as ICHR, ICSSR, ICPR and IIAS where
renowned scholars have been replaced by RSS ideologues with dubious
distinctions. The RSS shakhas brainwash the children in 40,000-odd schools run
by the Sangh Parivar.
Protests are increasing against these communal acts as seen in the country-wide
protests by 23 million Christians on 4th Dec. 1998. In UP, in reaction to Kalyan
Singh Government's announcement of mandatory rendering of Saraswati Vandana, the
Muslim leaders gave a call to all muslims to withdraw their children from such
schools.
The Hindu fascist forces are poisonous weeds that kill the healthy plants; they
are the pus in our body politic that is leading to gangrenous condition; it is a
virus that is infecting the entire. society. All secular and democratic forces;
all rational and scientific-minded people; all who cherish freedom and equality
of men and women, of all religions and nationalities; and all the persecuted
religious sects; all these forces should unite to fight this growing menace,
root out the poisonous weeds, expel the pus from the body-politic and
exterminate the virus lest the entire healthy organism will putrefy and become
extinct.
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