People's Democracy

EDITORIAL

Emphatic No To Communal Forces

THE decisive defeat of the communal combination of Shiv Sena-BJP in Maharashtra assembly elections has sharply brought into focus the fact that the BJP-led communal combination’s defeat in the general elections 2004 is not an isolated phenomenon. The RSS/BJP had spared no efforts to describe their defeat in the general elections not as a rejection of its communal platform but due to the specific localised features centering around alliances that were forged by the secular forces in various states.  We had then pointed out that even if this was true, then the very fact that the secular forces cooperated to ensure, to the maximum extent possible, that the division of the secular vote does not benefit the communal forces is, in itself, the result of the popular people’s pressure that was seeking to keep the communal forces as far away as possible from State power.

Amongst the various factors that contributed to the people’s verdict in the general elections, the fact remains that the people reasserted their faith to strengthen the secular democratic foundations of the Indian Republic and, therefore, to keep the communal forces away from power. 

The results in Maharashtra resoundingly vindicate this popular verdict against the communal forces. In a state, which was widely believed to be influenced by a strong anti-incumbency factor, the return of the Congress-NCP-led Democratic Front is, indeed, significant.  The communal forces were confident that the continuous drought situation compounding the agrarian distress in the state, distress suicides by the farmers etc would lead the people to vote out the incumbent government. While these problems were weighing down on the people accompanied by a rather lacklustre administration and a series of corruption scandals and scams, the electorate nevertheless chose to defeat the communal combination. The fact remains that the Democratic Front won in spite of the strong anti-incumbency factor.  This, in itself, vindicates the powerful popular expression to keep the communal forces away from power and hence to strengthen the secular democratic foundations of our country.

Another significant feature of these election results is the fact that despite all efforts to divide the secular vote, the communal forces could not benefit.  The BSP and the Samajwadi Party contested a huge number of seats.  The BJP-Shiv Sena were hoping that this would give them handsome electoral benefits.  But the Maharashtra electorate chose to act otherwise.  Both the BSP and the Samajwadi Party failed to win a single seat. 

Significant also is the fact that all efforts by the BJP-Shiv Sena combine to whip up communal passions failed. The tiranga yatra, the Savarkar issue and the orchestrated movement for the demolition of the tomb of Afzal Khan at Satara failed to evoke any response. 

Clearly, the people are fed up with such divisive and incendiary politics. The BJP, as is its wont, is loath to accept the people’s rejection. It has still not come to terms with the results of the general election. In Maharashtra, instead of accepting the fact that the people have rejected its communal political platform, it is seeking to identify scapegoats. The Shiv Sena, on the other hand, has blamed the Muslim minority in the state for its defeat.  In doing so, it has, once again, demonstrated its crass communal character. The fact remains that it is not only the Muslim minorities but also a larger number of secular Indians who have rejected the communal combination.  And, this has been a decisive rejection.

While the Shiv Sena is bracing itself for an anti-Muslim bashing, the BJP has, so to speak, “returned to its roots”. While the RSS/VHP/Bajrang Dal are urging the BJP to embrace unbridled communalism as its only claim to political existence, the BJP has responded to this understanding by resurrecting Mr. Advani as its president for the fifth time. Its famed and notorious second generation leadership has been unceremoniously dumped. By  falling back on Advani, the BJP seems to send an unambiguous message that  its political future lies only by sharpening communal polarisation. It is, therefore, bracing itself to plunge the country, once again, into mindless communal conflict leading to gruesome mayhem, death and misery.

However, the manner in which the people have rejected these communal forces in the recent elections must negate and reject such efforts by the RSS/BJP. This, the people surely will. The BJP is likely to face one of its severest political droughts in the coming years. 2005 will see elections to the state assemblies in Bihar, Jharkhand and Haryana.  In all these states, the BJP is relatively weak and is likely to meet a similar fate.  2006 would see elections to the state assemblies in West Bengal, Kerala and Tamilnadu.  The BJP simply does not exist as a political force in these states. In all likelihood, the BJP’s house of cards, built on windbags and inflated balloons, is bound to collapse further and faster. 

This is all the more better for the health of the Indian Republic. After a span of many years, the people in the country today are discussing issues of substance that affect their daily existence, instead of being drawn into meaningless controversies generated by the communal forces.  The issues being discussed today like Foreign Direct Investment, Employment Guarantee Act etc have a vital bearing on people’s lives and the country’s future. We must all strengthen this tendency in order to make India’s secular democracy stronger and vibrant.