Inside Track: Snakes & ladders

The Congress practically withdrew from the battlefield in UP, with the Gandhi family abandoning its pocket boroughs of Amethi and Rae Bareli. Despite the seemingly overwhelming odds, some regional Opposition satraps, such as Sharad Pawar, Akhilesh Yadav, Mamata Banerjee and Revanth Reddy, soldiered on.

Hindutva hiccup

Despite the BJP’s cockiness, there were indicators, which most failed to read, suggesting that the party’s mighty election juggernaut was in trouble. For starters, there was friction between the BJP and the RSS. Many from the Sangh did not campaign, annoyed with the number of outsiders with questionable credentials inducted by the party. Midway through the campaign, Modi’s shrill polarising speeches reflected his nervousness. But the Hindutva card did not work as well as expected, with the BJP losing even in Ayodhya. Somewhat unexpectedly, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has repeatedly warned against the dangers of polarising and divisive politics.

The parliamentary poll results were a major setback for the ruling party, even if the BJP put up a brave face since Modi was back as PM, albeit with the support of allies. One reason for the BJP’s electoral downslide was a masterful word-of-mouth campaign suggesting that the BJP was keen to amend the Constitution, and end reservations for OBCs and SCs. Indeed, the Constitution and Ambedkar were the recurring leitmotifs for all parties. Even a shrewd Amit Shah slipped badly at year-end on a throwaway line on the Dalit icon open for misinterpretation.

The BJP’s below par performance heartened those who feared that the Modi government was moving towards majoritarianism and authoritarianism, with the institutions meant to act as checks and balances slowly succumbing. Two years back, the Supreme Court, under the then Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, had allowed a survey of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi and made an oral observation that the survey perhaps could not violate the Places of Worship Act, 1991.

The fallout was the setting of the stage for civil suits questioning the title of medieval mosques in several places and most recently in Sambhal, UP, where violence erupted. The Supreme Court, under the new CJI, Sanjiv Khanna, restrained lower courts from passing orders in such incendiary suits till a final judgment in the matter.  An interesting footnote is that Chandrachud’s father supported the majority opinion in the 1976 SC verdict upholding the suspension of Fundamental Rights of life and liberty during the Emergency. Khanna’s uncle, Justice H R Khanna, was the sole dissenter in the same judgment and paid the price — losing the opportunity to become Chief Justice.

Congress yo-yo

The fortunes of the Congress also yo-yoed. The year began on a low note, in the wake of surprise Assembly defeats last year in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The party swung to an unrealistic high after the Lok Sabha results. Rahul Gandhi’s entitled coterie smugly assumed that it was just a matter of time before he would be the fourth in the family to become PM. They failed to comprehend that the BJP not living up to expectations does not automatically signify a Congress victory. The party’s disastrous performance in the Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly polls ended the post-Lok Sabha poll euphoria. INDIA partners now openly question Gandhi’s suitability to lead an anti-BJP front.

The unprecedented bout between BJP and Congress MPs on the steps of the new Parliament recently marked a new low for democracy, even as India celebrated 75 years of the Constitution. The year also aggravated the competition among parties in offering freebies, which the PM mockingly termed as revdis. But the Mahayuti in Maharashtra ignored the PM’s advice, doling out five installments of cash benefits to BPL women just before Assembly polls were announced.