Modi a trickster in Indian politics

Radhakanta Barik

Modi is a trickster whereas Rahul Gandhi a gentle fighter against Hindutva. He has got maturity to confront political reality. Modi's winning the election needs to be placed in global level. Israel, Turkey leaders who are charged with corruption and having a right wing ideology have won. Modi got congratulated by the Prime Minister of Israel as he is the first person. Israel Prime Minister is an aggressive leader against Palestine like Modi is in a mood against Pakistan.  Modi won his 2002 Gujarat by inventing Godhra and 2019 election by inventing Balakot and Pukham. Any war monger with the backing of big industrialists and organization like the RSS would have won the general election. Indian society like the Northern India and Western India could be conquered by the ideology of Hindutva turned into nationalism. This sort of politics is a temporary activity. Modi's true face will be exposed soon. Here Rahul Gandhi is going to be a big player on the floor of parliament to expose their evil designs. He will be a great fighter outside the parliament. No point of listening to those who wants to serve Modi's 'Congress Mukta' slogan which is being reiterated every day in the electronic media. Real fight is on the ground. Today Congress under Rahul is in a real fighting mood against Moditva. This is the right time Rahul Gandhi must show his leadership quality to confront the crisis of the nation. Nobody else can fight against the RSS and Modi in present day politics as everybody fears what will happen to me tomorrow. Let us hope he takes in a spirited manner to fight the battle. As a General he should win the war after losing the battle.

Going by a Rickshaw and talking to him regarding his voting preference he replied 'the man who is very intelligent I voted him." This creates curiosity in me. On inquiry he told "the man needs to be shrewd and think in such a manner like a fly caught in spider's net. Which cannot go out of it. Only way to enjoy there or have a natural death." I requested him to explain that Modi has a chal which makes all of us victims for which we voted him. As I know him and talked to him regarding his voting preference. He is a migrant labour from Bihar who pulls a rickshaw here. He earns per day Rs 300 to 500. He belongs to other backward caste barber which is a small minority community in North India. These small groups such as barbers, carpenters and blacksmiths have been mobilised by the BJP. It is an interesting proposition that politics is not for a straight forward person and a person who can create machinations against you, You feel disturbed by his actions and You vote for him.

The BJP's selection of candidates in Odisha has been worked out according to the Manu Shastra. There is a caste hierarchy which needs to be followed by all. As they do not believe in equality and justice and merit they look for the Rajput ad Brahmin combination in Odisha. In western Odisha they have handed over to the Rajputs and in coastal Odisha they have handed over to the Brahmins. This party wants to reinvent the caste power in politics. As Prof F G Bailey in his famous work Caste and Economic Frontier did not find the correlation between High castes and political power. On the contrary the Sundis a backward caste because of having money dominate politics of a hill district. Today the BJP wants to reinvent the Rajput Brahmin domination in Odisha politics because they want the hegemony of the Northern India over rich resources of Odisha by creating a helping hand to Marwaris and Gujaratis who control the trading economy of Odisha.

It is shocking to hear that Pratap Sarangi won from Baleswar which is the centre of Odiya literary renaissance. Here Fakir Mohan Senapati, Radhanatha Ray and Bhikari Bal used to sit every evening here and discuss the problems and produce literary works in Odiya. Shri Sarangi as BJP MLA took oath in Sanskrit in assembly. He is a communal fascist who does not respect his mother tongue. Once Sarangi's group campaigned 'Our mother tongue is Sanskrit and motherland is Bharat".  This group does not give due recognition to Odiyas as a cultural group and Odisha having a separate cultural identity. This group is winning from Baleswar a shocking news for us. He behaves like juniour Savarkar

On 23rd May was the day of counting and also Delhi experienced a storm which destroyed some branches of the trees. It has disfigured the manmade plantation like political democracy in the world. Human contribution made such a beautiful plantation where parks, lakes and ponds are there covering trees and flowers. It is Voltaire of Paris or Jafferson of America who gave the foundation of democracy on the basis of equality, justice and fraternity. In India Gandhi, Nehru and Tagore as political thinkers and in social field Phule, Ambedkar and Rammohan Roy and Vidyasagar EV Ramswamy's atheism blended together created such a beautiful plantation in India. This expressed in a multi coloured and multi tastes of constitutional democracy in India. The storm has disfigured it by destroying some branches and some beautiful flowers have got disfigured. But the trees like peepal and sal, Neem are standing straight. I look Modi's victory has disfigured the Indian democracy surely it has not created a havoc to our plantation. It can be easily challenged by planting new saplings. Like last time they pushed a law for diluting the reservation policy for SC and STs in India through back door by a known RSS judge of the Supreme Court which created street protests of Dalits all over India. This election has made backwards angry and liberals furious who would come to the street the day Pragya Thakur opens her mouth in Parliament. The day they bring citizenship bill they will be protest all over India. The day they will apply the bankruptcy law in the case of banks there will be massive protest.

 Although Indian middle class created under the globalisation era with a high salary look like anaemic child with big swollen belly and brain less developed  as defined colourless, bloodless, pale, pallid, wan, ashen, white, white as a ghost/sheet, grey, jaundiced, waxen, chalky, chalk white, milky, pasty, pasty-faced, whey-faced, peaky, sickly, tired-looking, washed out, sallow, drained, drawn, sapped, ghostly, deathly, deathlike, bleached; rare etiolated. They are the backbone of the Hindutva of Modi. They cannot stand against the Tsunami of backwards, Dalits, workers, liberals. How to explain the discrepancy between the Assembly election result and parliament election result. The BJP has performed better in the Lok Sabha election than the State election in Odisha. In the assembly election BJP has got   23 seats only whereas in the parliamentary election they are having  8 seats. If there are average 7 seats in each parliament constituency then it comes around 56 seats but they are having in 23 seats. The reason behind is that the people of Odisha have voted differently for the State and Centre. A certain percentage of voter who voted from BJD and INC in the State appear to have voted for BJP in the Centre.

The BJP's vote share in the State election is around 32.6% while for the parliamentary election their vote share was 38.1%. 

This brings out a critical point that the BJP strategists applied in Odisha with their party workers and for the first-time journalists have got envelopes of money to campaign for them. While the election was going on I raised this point in my post. That these journalists were raising a question to an ordinary voter in the election meeting of Naveen Babu which is strange. The first question was this that to whom you were voting? Then once answer had come that he or she was voting the BJD then another question had been put to the same voters: were you voting Naveen Patnaik in the assembly election and Modi in the parliament election? This sort of question had never been raised in the past. This is a political trick worked for the BJP which has no base in Odisha and as Odiyas are different in their religious cosmology then they could not be manipulated in the name of Ram and Hanuman. This trick worked because of money power and muscle power by the BJP workers and journalists both. It needs an inquiry into the matter how much money has been paid to each journalist in the last election by the BJP.

While the election was going on which legally made Modi government a lame duck government which cannot take a major decision. But under the pressures from American imperialism Modi government has withdrawn oil supply from Iran. India- Iran relationship is both culturally and economic which cannot be snatched under the pressures of USA. It should be discussed in the parliament without its approval the policy decision should be not taken by the present government. It seems that Modi’s government is a state of exception.A famous political scientist Giorgio Aganben defines the state of exception as a form of rule that occupies the 'No man's land between public land and political fact." Taking clues from such observation can we define Modi's state is is 'state of exception' . His dream of creating Hindurastra is like Alice in Wonderland which means it is no man's land but his undeclared emergency is real which violates the rights of common people. This is going to see in the coming days how far he is going to move in no man's land. Modi has turned as king with his expensive life style in constrant to Gandhian style accepted by political workers. In Hindutva philosophy it is monarchy should rule.

Prof Radhakanta Barik, retired as Professor, Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi

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Frontier
May 28, 2019