Page 26 - Tehelka Issue 15 August 2018

2019 likely to see elections

without strong narrative

• Wooing voters Amid political slugfest, the narrative of development seems to have lost its charm

Even as the general elections ple to Gau Raksha. who has been projecting himself as a
The desperation is too obvious not
are just few months away, no to be noticed. The Vishwa Hindu Pari- champion of development, should de-
pend on it heavily. In a recent function
political party has been able to shad, which has been espousing a viru- at Ayodhya, former BJP MP Ram Vilas
neatly weave its promises in lent form of Hindutva, is getting into Vedanti declared that the construction
convincing manner. The huddles very frequently. One of these of the temple will start without wait-
huddles in Gandhi Smriti and Darshan
ing for the court order. He reminded
political attacks also lack Samiti complex has already created that the Babri mosque was demolished
sharpness, writes anil sinha a controversy. The two-day event or- without any court order. The assertion
ganised by the VHP caused a closure came in the presence of Uttar Pradesh
of Gandhi Samadhi on June 24-25. The Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the
he Lok Sabha polls are only Samadhi has never been closed for CM supported it by saying that there
months away and the cam- more than few hours since its inception. should be no doubt that a Ram Temple
paigning is in full swing. But These closures are generally made dur- will be constructed at the place.
if anything is lacking, it is a ing the visit of a foreign dignitary for se- The BJP and the RSS has acceler-
T coherent narrative. No polit- curity reasons. The Samadhi is opened ated its efforts to polarise the society
ical party has been able to neatly weave to common visitors soon after the can be seen in other instances also. A
its promises in a convincing manner. dignitary leaves the place. Obviously, recent debate on Shariat Courts at dis-
The political attacks also lack sharp- Gandhi organisations protested at the trict level also has their blessings. The
ness and most of it comes down to an Rajghat to express their displeasure at All-India Muslim Personal Board does
unpalatable level. The failure on the the arbitrary closure. However, the local not have legal status has been decided
part of the ruling party is more visible. administration or the central govern- by the Supreme Court. The Board too
The party, which has ruled with full ma- ment which manages the monument never claims it. It also denied that there
jority in the Lok Sabha, does not seem did not come with apology or clarifi- is no move of setting up Shariat Courts
to have the courage to ask for votes on cation only shows the tacit approval at district level is on their agenda.
its performances alone. The Bhartiya to the step. Though the step might But TV channels debated it zealously
Janata Party is not showing the mettle have been taken without any political with the obvious motive that it should
to assert that it will ask for the votes on motive, it exhibits the close association polarize the society. Interestingly, kill-
what it has done during its rule. of the Hindutva outfit with the govern- ing of Munna Bajrangi, the notorious
Though the Modi government and ment and the urgency with which the don of Uttar Pradesh, in Baghpat jail
the BJP has been beating its own drums organisation is working nowadays. which happened the same day was not
since it came into the power, now it The Rajghat is directly governed by the given the required space despite that
does not seem to be confident enough Culture Ministry of the centre. fact that the incident displays the state
to pursue development plank with the Though, the Hindutva forces have of law and order in the state.
same zeal. That is why it has allowed started their activities ahead of the The other plank the Prime Minis-
all the older issues to be part of the poll polls is not surprising, it is indeed ironi- ter is banking on is the attack on “the
discourse. They range from Ram Tem- cal that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, dynasty”. The Emergency Day was cele-

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