Secular parties need to get together to defeat BJP at its own game
The Uttar Pradesh Assembly election results came as a shock, albeit timely, to the "secular" political parties. However, they don't seem to have learnt any lessons from it.
Firstly, the SP and the BSP still don't seem to have realised the depth of the sangh parivar's penetration in UP since 2013. Neither the SP nor the BSP effectively countered this campaign, not to speak of the Congress.
The combination of the Left cadres who campaigned in UP, mostly moved into the state a few months before the Assembly elections. They got around 0.02 per cent of the vote.
This in a state, where the Left had several MPs and more MLAs till the 1990s. The Left parties are known for their self-criticism. But this time round, their trenchant criticism appears inadequate in response to the Hindutva challenge.
There is welcome self-criticism and corrections also in other secular parties. The Congress has removed veteran leader Digvijaya Singh as the in-charge of Goa and Karnataka. Madhusudan Mistry has been removed as AICC general secretary. Mistry, one of the respected politicians in Gujarat, was appointed as a member of the party's central organisation authority.
Last year, he was removed as the party's Uttar Pradesh in-charge to be replaced by Ghulam Nabi Azad. But Azad was a disaster in UP in this round. He wrested 105 seats from the SP (as part of seat-sharing), refused to give 15-20 seats to the RLD and others. Out of 105 seats, Congress managed to win only 7, probably a record (low) for a national party. This is not atypical. Many parties (led by the Congress) demand seats, which are in excess of what they can win.
Many Congressmen have welcomed these changes (of self-introspection), but acknowledge that this is only the first step. Interestingly, though Ajay Maken, in-charge of Delhi, quit his post, his resignation was rejected along with that of PC Chacko. Their resignations were rejected, despite the Congress' poor performance in the MCD elections.
The fact that Maken had made anti-party allegations against Sheila Dikshit for not campaigning, which she refuted publicly, was also forgiven. But this is the way the Congress and many other parties function. These are party, not individual, decisions. Even the supreme leaders consult, at least, their confidants.
The AAP is reeling under unprecedented self-criticism. Kejriwal, along with Manish Sisodia, has admitted that the EVM issue was overstated and was not the cause of AAPs defeat in the MCD. But outbursts within theparty such as Bhagwant Mann's criticism of the EVM ploy and poor candidate selections in Punjab, and AAP leader Kumar Vishwas's unhappiness over how he was sidelined, are encouraging.
AAP leaders and cadres are speaking out. Kejriwal in response has clearly stated, "The reality is obvious. Yes, we made mistakes but we will introspect and course correct... To not evolve would be silly. We owe that to voters and volunteers... Need is action and not excuses... The only thing constant is change."
Kejriwal's speech has been based on action. Dilip Pandey, AAP Delhi in-charge has resigned. Sanjay Singh, the Punjab in-charge has also resigned, among others. But the next question is how will they contribute to building a new type of "mahagatbandhan" in the coming Assembly elections up until the 2019 General Elections?
But the AAP will first have to sort out its identity problem. Will it be pristine in its isolation (as the Bard of Bengal Rabindranath Tagore wrote, "Ekla Chalo Re")? Or following its coalition with the Lok Insaf Party in Punjab (in which it got 2 seats from the allies), and the secular alliance (of six parties) in Manipur, will AAP accept the need for coalitions?
No less important, will parties accept a reasonable share of seats available? Will previous results be used as an indication of what parties are entitled to?
The bargaining for seats must also take finances into account. Applicants for MCD seats from the BJP have claimed that they had to pay ₹1.25 crore for a ticket. There are several such rumours floating around, including in the AAP. But financing is an issue, which a secular alliance will have to take into account.
Then, of course, there is the role of the media, which almost always backs the perceived winning side. And uncritically accepts handouts from leading political parties. This is often called the "paid media". After all, the owner of a major electronic channel was helped into the Rajya Sabha by the Modi sarkar.
In earlier times, this was done by the secular governments as well. Under the current regime, the "tweaking" of news by the print and electronic media, like underplaying the performance of the AAP and the Congress in the MCD elections, was clearly a political decision.
All these factors will remain in play. The only viable riposte to the Hindutva alliance, especially with Yogi Adityanath's coming in as the CM in Uttar Pradesh at a critical stage, is to widen the secular, liberal, nationalist alliance and start the necessary political work at the earliest.
The Sangh Parivar and its supporters should be reminded that during the freedom struggle from 1925 to 1947, it was largely absent. Secular, Indian nationalism can't be appropriated by the RSS, which did not even raise the tricolour then. On this a lot could be said, and has been written. But at this stage, excuses, delays and squabbles will only make 2019 yet another debacle.
Critically, the secular parties will have to counter the sangh parivar's Hindutva claims. Cow slaughter, in Article 48 of the Constitution, is banned along with all "milch and draught cattle," including all bovines such as buffaloes, yak, mithuns, etc. The ban is not on religious grounds, but to "preserve and improve" the breeds. Are the "gau rakshaks" or the sangh "improving" the breeds?
Finally, beef is available in Goa where the BJP has been ruling for the better part of two decades.
There is no dearth of arguments against the saffron brigade. The problem is with the secular parties which need to come together (learning from the Bihar mahagatbandhan).
It has been successful before, and appropriately redone, can be useful in the current situation again.
If such alliances fail, the next challenge in 2019 may be another disaster. Those who don't swim together, sink together.