After a befitting defeat in just held Lok Sabha elections, despite its Hindu-Muslim divide agenda, the BJP does not seem to have learnt any lesson.
It is pertinent to mention here that the BJP, whose candidates contested in the name of Modi, won in 240 seats out of total 543 seats in Lok Sabha, falling short of the 272-majority mark. Its tally remained far behind from previous two elections wherein it had won 303 and 282 seats in 2019 and 2014, respectively, to have a majority on its own. Now BJP government is stacked on such two pillars which can fall at any time. With the support from key allies N Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), which won 16 and 12 seats in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, respectively the BJP is enjoying the power game. Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister of Bihar, is an experienced and expert power game changer and he can turn the tables at any moment.
The political analysts observe that despite knowing its weak base, the BJP is still waving its flag in the same manner and in addition it is trying to crack the society in caste segments also. The speech of Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, in a rally on 16th July in Haryana clearly reflects the party’s agenda for the forthcoming assembly elections.
After losing five out of ten seats in Lok Sabha election held in May ,2024 in Haryana, Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), along with its old Hindu- Muslim agenda, has started to lure Other Backward Class (OBC) voters to sail through the forthcoming Assembly Elections going to be held in October 2024. Seeing the annoyance of the farmer community, comprising of all segments- without any caste and creed differentia, against the party and especially the then Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar, before the Lok Sabha elections, the High Command had replaced Mr. Khattar with the present Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, an OBC category person, the then sitting MP. However, the anti-incumbency was so high that the party had to see a befitting defeat in just held Lok Sabha Elections and had to lose its ground in five out of ten seats.
In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the party had captured all the ten seats squeezing the main opposition party, congress to zero. But in Assembly elections held just after six months in October 2019, the BJP could not get the majority mark and had to adopt the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), to save the Chief Minister’s chair.
The political observers smell that as the farmers’ anger against the BJP is still on high pitch, so the party has decided to bifurcate the farmers in castes and religion segments. The Party seems to sail on the OBC category in the forthcoming Assembly elections and has started to bifurcate the voters on caste basis in addition to its all-time favourite Hindu-Muslim segmentation.
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Amit Shah while addressing the ‘Pichhda Varg Samman Sammelan’ at Mahendragarh, Haryana on July 16, not only revolved his speech around the OBC category, but also tried to woo anti-Muslim general category Hindu castes by expressing BJP’s anti- Muslim stand.
Mr. Shah denounced the Congress party for its soft corner towards Muslims and said, “We will not allow reservation for Muslims in Haryana.”
Shah said that Congress gave reservation to Muslims in the backward class in Karnataka. If they come to Haryana, they will do the same here. He assured that reservation for Muslims will not be allowed in Haryana.
What is the factual position of Muslim Backward classes reservation in Haryana ?
Reacting over the statement of Home Minister Amit Shah about the Muslim reservation in Haryana, Aftab Ahmed Deputy Leader of Opposition in Haryana Legislative Assembly claims that 60 percent of Muslims in Haryana already are the part of backward class list and enjoying the reservation. Aftab added, “Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Govt Jobs and admissions in Educational Institutions) Bill, 2016, backward classes are divided in into two categories. BC ‘A’ is an exhaustive list of 71 castes amongst which 13 are Muslim communities. Similarly, Meos are included in BC ‘B’ category along with other Hindu castes.”
CPI(M) has also alleged that Amit Shah is deliberately misleading the people. The reality is that backward class Muslims and Meos already come under the reserved category.
The Haryana State Secretariat of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has expressed strong objection to some parts of the speech given by Home Minister Amit Shah in a program organized in Mahendragarh. The Party in a reaction alleged that in a conference held in the name of backward classes on Tuesday, Amit Shah targeted the Muslim community and said that the reservation of backward classes will be abolished and given to Muslims in Haryana as Congress has done in Karnataka.
In a press release issued by the CPI(M) on Wednesday, the statement of the Home Minister was described as a malicious attempt to spoil the social harmony of different communities by spreading hatred among them and it was said that this is a criminal act from the legal and social point of view. When the Home Minister himself makes such statements, it is not difficult to guess how dangerous a message it gives to the country.
The party believes that the cheap politics of dividing people in the name of religion and caste for electoral gains has been the well-known devious trick of the BJP and the BJP has not learned any lesson even from the recent shameful defeat in Ayodhya and Badrinath.
Shah Claims How BJP benefitted OBC ?
Union Home Minister claimed that in 2014, Shri Narendra Modi, in his first speech as Prime Minister in Parliament, had said that this is a government of Dalits, poor and backward. The Home Minister said that his party has given the country its first strong Prime Minister who comes from a backward class. He said that today, out of 71 ministers in the Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Modi, 27 are from Backward Classes, including 2 from Haryana. He said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji has honoured the entire OBC community from the country, including Haryana.
Criticizing the previous congress government for keeping the OBC’s deprived of their rights, Amit Shah said that when the Kaka Kalelkar Commission was formed in 1957 for the reservation of OBCs, it was not allowed to be implemented for many years. He said that in 1980, the then Prime Minister put the Mandal Commission on hold and when it was brought in 1990, the then Prime Minister opposed it. He said that Prime Minister Modi has provided constitutional rights to the OBC society by giving constitutional recognition to the OBC Commission. Shah added that for the first time, Modi ji has given 27 percent reservation in Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navodaya Vidyalayas, Sainik Schools and NEET examinations. Along with this, a historic decision was also taken by Prime Minister Modi to increase the limit of the creamy layer by excluding agriculture and salary income from it.
Union Home Minister said that the Haryana Government has also launched several schemes for the welfare of backward classes. He said that in Haryana, a backward class person has been made the Chief Minister and now the state will move forward under the leadership of Nayab Singh Saini.
Amit Shah said that the Haryana government has taken another historic decision by increasing the reservation for backward classes in Panchayats, Municipal Corporations, and Municipalities. Previously, there was a provision of 8 percent reservation for the BC-A category in Panchayati Raj institutions. Now, an additional 5 percent reservation will be provided for the BC-B category. This decision will significantly benefit the people of Haryana by expanding access to reservation. Similarly, there is an existing provision of 8 percent reservation for the BC-A category in urban local bodies. Now, a 5 percent reservation will also be provided for the BC-B category.
Union Minister Amit Shah said that following the Central Government’s guidelines, the creamy layer limit for backward classes in Haryana has been increased from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh annually. Similar to the Government of India, salary and income from agriculture will not be clubbed in this limit, benefiting lakhs of people.
Hitting BJP with a harsh reply, former Chief Minister of Haryana Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that it was BJP that had curbed reservation, welfare schemes for Dalits and Backward classes ever since it came to power.
“The BJP reduced the creamy layer limit from Rs 8 lakh to 6 lakh to squeeze the reservation of backward classes. Income from agriculture and salary were also added to decide the creamy layer limit. As a result, lakhs of people from backward category were deprived of their reservation right.”
The BJP government should seek an apology from backward classes, not their vote,” Hooda added.
Whether all OBC’s will go with BJP ?
Union Minister of State Rao Indrajit Singh, a leader of the largest and strongest OBC (Ahir-Yadav) community in Haryana, welcoming Amit Shah on behalf of the people of Southern Haryana, emphasized that they (Yadavs) have consistently supported the BJP by giving all seats to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He highlighted the unwavering support of the OBC and BC classes towards the BJP from the beginning. Rao Inderjit said that the BJP government has taken meaningful steps by forming a commission for backward classes.
Though Union Minister of State Rao Indrajit Singh was claiming full support of OBC and BC classes to the BJP, but his statements on separate platforms reflect his anguish. He shows his resentment time and again that he is the only M P to be made a Minister of State (MoS) for two decades.
While addressing a gathering on Saturday, 13th July, Rao Inderjit Singh’s lava erupted, as quoted by Indian Express in its July 17, 2024 edition.
Expressing his hidden agony, Mr. Singh said, “There are two types of people in politics—one who wins when the wind blows in favour of the party, but the second leader gets elected even when the party is unpopular. In my 45 years of political career and 20 years in Lok Sabha, I was a minister of state in 2004 and am still a minister of state in 2024.”
Without naming former Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar, Rao added, “Those who became MP for the first time have been inducted into the cabinet, those who were below me have been taken in as cabinet ministers.
Everyone knows that I have proven myself by getting elected six times, but not everyone knows I am the only MP to have secured the MoS position for this long. This food is for thought.”
Supporting the feelings of Rao Sahab, the crowd chanted, “Haryana Ka Mukhya Mantri Kaisa ho, Rao Inderjit Jaisa ho.”
Rao Inderjit Singh, who is said to represent the Yadav-dominated southern Haryana, had time and again openly criticised the Khattar government for discriminating against southern Haryana in allocation of development works.
Now it is crystal clear that the Ahirwal leader Rao Inderjit Singh is not satisfied with his status in BJP government and claims Chief Minister’s chair for the neglected Ahirwal area. But BJP has dashed his hope to ground by declaring in advance that present CM Nayab Singh Saini will remain the Chief Minister after the forthcoming assembly elections also, if BJP wins. Amit Shah had announced so during his last month’s visit to Panchkula, Haryana, leaving no scope for any other leader to claim his occupancy on this chair.
Now the question arises, “Can Nayab Singh Saini, a member of caste having 1 percent population in the state represent the entire OBC, despite the fact that another Saini caste leader, Raj Kumar Saini is working with INDIA block to defeat BJP?”
Political analysts predict that turning a deaf ear towards Ahir community and its leader Rao Inderjit Singh may not only give a setback to BJP in nearly 18 assembly constituencies in Haryana but also negate BJP’s move of uniting OBC castes under Nayab Singh Saini. Declaring Saini as its next CM face may spoil the whole plan of BJP. The public is taking Nayab Singh Saini as a representative of former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and not a representative of OBC. Nayab Singh himself also claims him as a ‘Chela’ (disciple) of Khattar.
Will the BJP high command listen to the public voice ?
Jag Mohan Thaken is a Senior Journalist, Columnist & Political Analyst, views are personal
