Defect & embarrass: BJP resorts to politics of humiliation in Gujarat to weaken Congress
In its quest to finish off the Congress in its stronghold of Gujarat, the BJP – which is often accused of practising the politics of polarisation – has started resorting to politics of humiliation.
The recent developments in the state, which has a lots more on offer in the days to come, reflect the arrogance of the party led by its national president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on their home turf.
The party has initiated a chain of defections from the Congress. And it is being done in a manner that shows that the purpose is not just to defeat Ahmed Patel in the Rajya Sabha polls scheduled on 8 August, but also to humiliate the party on a large scale.
Observers say that it all started with the BJP causing confusion in the Congress ranks through acts like Amit Shah going over to meet the former Congress leader of Opposition Shankersinh Vaghela and then eventually succeeding in ensuring that this popular leader walks out of the party just ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls.
Vaghela's departure followed and it caused immense embarrassment to the Congress during the Presidential poll in which Vaghela's supporters are said to have cross voted in the favour of the BJP candidate.
This has now been followed by three Congress MLAs Balwantsinh Rajpur, Tejashree Patel and Prahlad Patel, all Vaghela loyalists, resigning from the party and joining the BJP.
With more resignations pouring in at regular intervals this process is not going to end here and it should not come as a surprise if 20 or more Congress MLAs announce their departure from the party before the Rajya Sabha polls.
Even Vaghela's resignation as a MLA should not come as a surprise. This will continue to dominate media headlines and the BJP leaders will get down to lampooning the Congress leadership not only in the state but also at the Centre.
The indication for this was reportedly given by Shah at the Gujarat BJP headquarters 'Kamalam' on Thursday when he gave a call for giving a death blow to the Congress in the state.
The ultimate game
The BJP is trying to neutralise the chances of Patel, the political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, in the Rajya Sabha polls by engineering defection of more than 15 MLAs.
Shah has instructed all MLAs to ensure that no vote gets invalidated during the Rajya Sabha polls. He has also called for organising a mock voting session for the MLAs to ensure this. Shah has made it clear that under no circumstances should any of the BJP MLAs be absent on the day of the voting.
In a move that simply amounts to sprinkling salt on the wounds of the Congress and humiliating it further, the Gujarat government has reportedly called for a state Assembly session on 8 and 9 August, the day of the Rajya Sabha polls on which the BJP intends to seal Patel's fate.
This will get maximum attention of the public and further embarrass the Congress whose numbers would have fallen considerably by then.
“This practice of engineering defections from the Opposition camps ahead of elections was started by Modi before the 2014 polls. This is the Modi model of winning elections based on 'tod fod' (destruction) in the Opposition camps. This is not the politics advocated by Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel and Ravishanker Maharaj in Gujarat,” senior Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia pointed out.
Modhwadia went on to point out that the BJP had engineered the defection of a dozen legislators from the Congress ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
“They gave tickets to them in the Assembly by-polls and also the Lok Sabha polls. The Congress candidates won four of the former seats out of six and three of the six parliamentary seats where defectors had been fielded on BJP tickets. The writing on the wall this time is clear -- that the Congress will win the Assembly polls and was indicated by the victories in the local body elections last year,” he said.
“Gujarat has been a mercantile state where there was no space for humiliating the opponents. It always functioned on the principle of 'teri bhi rahi, meri bhi rahi' (mutual consent). This is a new practice that is being seen in politics here. The mercantile ethos is no longer there. It is the ethos of ruthless winning on display. In the olden times, the Opposition was always treated with respect despite differences of opinion,” veteran political analyst Achyut Yagnik told Catch.
Problems on ground
On the ground, the BJP is being criticised for ignoring the plight of the common man who stands ravaged by floods as it goes around engineering political defections for its political games.
“It is a matter of shame that even the local media has not questioned the BJP leaders on this issue. The death toll has crossed 130 and the party in power is busy playing political games. It only shows their desperation to achieve their political goals,” pointed a senior media person based at Ahmedabad.
“Can Modi or Shah dare to carry out a road show at this point of time in the cities of Gujarat when they stand ravaged with floods? They will have to face the wrath of the public,” Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said.
Doshi said that today when the BJP is facing the anger of the Dalits, tribals and the farmers, its top leadership has taken to this route of politics that involves engineering defections to send across the message of disarray in the Congress ranks and confuse the electorate. This is going to be followed by lampooning the Congress leadership. Doshi said that the people of Gujarat want a change which the BJP is finding difficult to contain.
Congress claims aside, it is a well-known fact that Modi and Shah have scant respect for the Opposition both inside the Parliament or Assembly and also outside. And this is not a healthy practice for a vibrant democracy.
First published: 28 July 2017, 17:55 IST
