By Yash Shukla
As the Gujarat assembly elections come nearer, the level of discourse during the election has been drastically reducing with each passing day. In a state where religious polarization has paid dividends to political parties, both the BJP and the Congress are in a race to outwit each other in securing their vote-banks.
Parties and their ideologies
For a party like Congress which has never been ideologically Left or Right and has always existed as a Centrist party, it is a very difficult job to seek votes in the name of religion. However, Congress seeking minority as well as majority votes at the same time has been fruitful for other political parties. Former Prime Minister Rajeev Gandhi also tried to secure Hindu as well as Muslim votes by opening the gates of Babri Masjid and by overturning the SC verdict on Shah Bano case. But his manoeuvring did not turn out to be fruitful for his party and instead helped parties like the BJP and the Samajwadi party; the former securing the Hindu votes and the?latter securing the Muslim votes.
Controversies created
Similar manoeuvring is being done by his son and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi who has been visiting temples and shrines, of late, in Gujarat to seek the Hindu votes. The BJP in order to counter his manoeuvring let its media cell rake controversies regarding Gandhi?s religion. In his recent visit to the Somnath temple, the BJP alleged that Rahul Gandhi had written his name in a register for non-Hindu visitors. It is in line with the BJP?s scheme of things where in?the past too the BJP has raked up controversies regarding the Italian origin of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her Catholic religion. The Congress party in return called it the conspiracy of the BJP to polarize voters before the elections. One of the Congress leaders defended Gandhi by saying that Gandhi is a ?Shiv-Bhakt? (devotee of Lord Shiva).
What does this mean for India?
The whole controversy reflects the sorry state of affairs in our country where two principal political parties, instead of discussing issues like jobs, education and infrastructure, are busy establishing the religious credentials of their leaders. The BJP, which has been on back-foot due to the slowdown in the economy and low growth due to its so-called economic reforms like demonetization, seems to be dodging questions with the help of these controversies.
A few days back the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader Hardik Patel?s so-called sex tape was also released and questions were raised about his character. The BJP, with the coming together of the Congress party and leaders like Hardik Patel and Jignesh Mevani, finds itself on back-foot.
However, accusing political parties of doing politics for the sake of votes would be like accusing fish of being wet in water. But the front page news and coverage provided by some of the media houses to the controversy shows the nexus between a large section of media houses and the ruling regime. On the forefront were Republic TV, holding two prime-time debates on the controversy and Times of India publishing the news story as the lead story of its front-page.?The nexus between the media houses and political parties further deteriorates the state of affairs. The controversy, hence, is a commentary on the political discourse in our country.
Featured Image Source:?Visualhunt / CC BY-SA
