As the country is preparing for elections, all the politicians are trying to outsmart each other in promises and rhetoric. Amidst of the statements of leaders, some are really very disturbing. For instance, Sakshi Maharaj, MP, lok sabha said that the upcoming elections will be fought in the name of the country and there will be no elections after that. (Is the 2019 election the last one ever? This is what Sakshi Maharaj has to say, by Anuj Carlappa, 17 March 2019,in.news.yahoo.com He said ‘ The Modi tsunami has awakened the country. I feel there will be no elections in 2024….this is the only election and we are fighting it in the name of the country with full honesty “. This is a disturbing trend and exposes the dangers of authoritarian trends of the leader and the party. He has also warned earlier that result will not be good if any other candidate is given ticket from his constituency (” Result may not be good if…. Sakshi Maharaj’s veiled threat to BJp, edited by Vaibhav Tiwari, updated March 13, 2019, ndtv.com). He has also demanded strongly demolition of Delhi’s Jama Masjid last year. The controversial statements indicate that the campaign might witness communal and hate speeches.
Sakshi Maharaj
Similar opinion
Some months ago, the former UP Chief Minister expressed similar opinions. Akhilesh Yadav said that people should ‘ find a drain and a ‘kadhai'(utensil) to fry ‘pakodas’ if bjp comes to power in 2019 ( There will be No Further Elections if BJP is Voted Back to Power in 2019 , says Akhilesh Yadav , by Quzi Faraz Ahmed, September 14, 2018 , news18.com) . He said that the government is trying to kill democracy. Many activists have also expressed fears of increasing trend of fascism.
Crucial elections
Thus, the present elections are crucial not only for upholding of democratic values but also protecting constitution. As Amartya Sen opined, ” We must express opposition to autocracy, we must fight against their autocratic trends, we must criticise the issues where we need to oppose the non- communal right wing forces , but we must nit take back our hands when it comes to fighting communalism which is the biggest threat ( Non- Communal Forces Must Ally, Democracy In Danger: Amartya Sen, updated 27 -8 -18 , the quint.com). He also said that every political question cannot be interpreted through leftist and rightist prism and a party with ill – motives came to power in 2014. He said that we can do the rectification.
Hence, as the campaign begins, all social and political activists should make people aware of the dangers and impress political parties to come together and unite to defeat the forces of communalism and casteism and corporate- friendly anti- people politics. The need of the hour is to prevent fascist forces to regain power.
Sheshu Babu is a political commentator
Courtesy: Counter Current