Is BJP losing the front on its Hindutva Ideology?
Bharatiya Janta Party has always been seen as the party for the cause of Hindus. Right from its inception, the party has fought for those issues which the left and Congress never wanted to be solved. Be it repealing Article 370 & 35-A, construction of Ram Mandir, Uniform Civil Code, etc. With RSS at the forefront of bringing all the issues and BJP giving the political power to those ideas, Hindus always had a soft corner for BJP. The first time BJP decided to not bring up their Hindutva agenda was during the 2004 elections fought under the leadership of two most Hindu Hriday Samrat’s, Advani Ji and Vajpayee Ji. The GDP during 2003-2004 was approximately 8.2% (if calculated on the basis of new back series data) and therefore BJP thought to fight the elections on the basis of the growing economy.
Vinay Sitapati in his book “Jugalbandi – The BJP before Modi” mentions that BJP during their election campaigning completely forgot about the Ram Mandir, and didn’t specifically target Hindu votes. The result was clear. BJP lost and Congress won. Hindus wanted BJP to address those issues but the Advani-Vajpayee duo failed in their analysis. It was in 2014 again that the Modi-Amit Shah duo took up the Hindutva issues clearly and came back to power. But now when I compare the first term of Modi as PM with his second term as PM, I find that this government has completely forgotten the Hindus.
Was Repealing the Farm Bills a Masterstroke?
Every move by Modi Ji is a masterstroke for BJP followers. Drafting the three farm bills was a masterstroke and now taking them back is a masterstroke too! For the last year, crores of rupees were spent in advertising about the benefits of farm bills but now the PM said that his government failed to make people understand. The most astonishing point to note was that in Parliament he addressed farmers as ‘AndolanJeevi’ and now he addressed them as ‘Mere Kisan Bhai!’. The simplest way to end these protests would be to make it optional for states to implement it or not. Also, Supreme Court had already put a stay on these bills. Therefore, if the BJP followers say that ending these protests was necessary for the upcoming Punjab, UP, Uttarakhand, and Goa Elections then why the government wasn’t able to handle the Anti-CAA riots? It was only because of the first wave of COVID-19 that Shaheen Bagh protestors had to vacate that place!
Keeping in mind the repeal of these farm bills, Asaduddin Owaisi today demanded that CAA should also be taken back. Mehbooba Mufti said that status of Kashmir should also be restored back. So will the PM come on the national television again that we failed to make people understand CAA and Article-370 and therefore we are ready to undo every change we did?
Getting Soft on Hindutva Ideology
Believe it or not but killing of Hindus especially the BJP supporters during Bengal Poll violence is just so shameful for a party that calls itself “The sole party of Hindus”. Not a single person from the BJP cabinet condemned the attacks on Hindus in Bengal. The nation already saw how Hindus were killed during the Anti-CAA riots. Out of the whole BJP, only Yogi Ji is vocal about Hinduism and Hindutva. Of course, we understand that Modi Ji as PM can’t be vocal about a particular community/religion especially when he is now a global leader but the least he can do is to order an inquiry! Trolling Hindus and Hinduism is a trend today. Conferences like Dismantling Hinduism are being organized. CAA is not operational and will NRC be implemented ever is a question.
Hindus don’t have any special demands. We are not the ones who do the conversions. We don’t believe in expansionism. It is because of the minority politics that Hindus feel alienated. It is high time that BJP should understand this thing otherwise they will soon become Congress 2.0.
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