At  the vibrant function in Bengaluru on Friday, May 26, an Open Letter to the newly elected government was given. Senior activists were present including those who had worked hard to make the Eddelu Karnataka movement a reality, built alliances, and worked on the ground.

The contents of the May 26 is below:

People’s expectations and steps that Congress must take to fulfil them

The Congress party has to take three main steps to respond to public expectations:

1. Fulfil its promises: The five guarantees given by the Congress – increased rations, 200 units of free electricity, Rs 2000 per month for women of the household, free travel for women and Rs 3000 per month for the unemployed – must be implemented without fail.

Whether right or wrong, you must honour the word you have given to the people. We believe these are only emergency measures to alleviate suffering, not permanent solutions. The real solution to the problems of the society today is to raise people’s incomes, ensure employment, reduce costs and create an environment of mutual cooperation and fraternity. Although the government should work in that direction in the long run, today it should first fulfil its promises.

2. Mend the damage done by the BJP’s misrule:

The BJP’s rule has brought two kinds of damage:

• Anti-people laws to further corporate interests and hate politics have been ushered, such as the Land Reforms Amendment Act, APMC Act, Cattle Act, National Education Policy, Anti-conversion Act, Electricity Privatization Act, casteism in the revision of textbooks, cancellation of reservation for minorities, betrayal under the guise of reservation etc. Cases were filed against those who fought against these evil policies, taking away the possibility of protest.
• Shocking increase in prices, 40% corruption and rampant politicization have made the life of the common man unbearable.

The second main task before the Congress government is to repeal all these anti-people measures and acts and formulate pro-people acts. The socio-economic situation of each community should be transparently put forth through a caste census, and a comprehensive solution evolved by taking the public into confidence. All cases filed against activists by the previous government should be withdrawn and the people’s right to protest restored. Plans should be made to curb corruption and price rise, and re-establish a spirit of peace and fraternity.

3. Government should be responsive to people’s demands: Those who govern should first listen to people’s demands, before deciding the government’s course of action. The government should reach out and listen to various groups who have put forward different demands and struggled for them, and collectively work out a solution. People’s demands are reasonable – for farmers, a fair price for their crops and rights over bagair hokum lands; housing for the homeless, strengthening of MGNREGA and its expansion to cities, an increase in minimum wages, equal pay for equal work, job security, social justice, fair reservations with internal reservation, extortion-free education, accessible healthcare, nutritious food, old pension scheme, security for the destitute, protection and proper status for women, abolition of evil practices and freedom from debt. In short, what people are asking for is a dignified, peaceful life. How can a government not respond to this? It is easy to come up with a long list of what the government should do. We are not doing it, instead, we have a simple request. First, get each department to reach out and start a dialogue with the people and those who are fighting for the people. Consult the social organizations, take comprehensive decisions and begin work at once. Create a democratic system where the government is subject to public scrutiny so that all can see whether you are working as you have promised.

If the government responds to the people, the people will respond to the government. You will see even better results in 2024. Otherwise, power is never permanent. There is no other alternative to avoid the danger of the same evil forces seizing power again. Hence the Congress must pay attention to the above three aspects.

We will continue our duty as the voice of civil society, and work as a real and constructive opposition party. We will cooperate with the government’s good work, and at the same time oppose its negligence. We trust you will honour and respect this relationship.

We end with one last word from concerned citizens – “Let the government act as it speaks, and let its actions be its words”.

On behalf of all the common people of Karnataka, “Eddelu Karnataka”….

Rest of the Letter

May 6, 2023

An open letter

To the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister, and all Ministers and MLAs of the Congress Party:

At long last, Karnataka has heaved a big sigh of relief. The people of the state have rejected the government which has given them unprecedented bad governance. They have given your party a clear majority. We offer our best wishes to you and all your party workers for this victory. We all hope your government will serve its full five years with stability and unity. On this occasion, we would like to bring some issues to your attention.

First of all, we hope you will agree that this victory is not only the victory of the Congress party but also the victory of the masses. The anger within the people of the state has expressed itself as contempt for the BJP. It was not only the people who were determined to defeat this misrule – many pro-people organizations, grassroots organizations, literary thinkers and media friends worked tirelessly to mobilize the people’s minds towards it. Organizations of Dalits, minorities, backward communities, farmers, agricultural workers, labour, women, sexual minorities and transgender communities, and many democratic organizations worked relentlessly. Special recognition is due to individuals and organizations from the Lingayath, Vaishya and Brahmin communities who worked to defeat the BJP. Amongst these various efforts, of special note is ‘Eddelu Karnataka’, which emerged as a collective action of many organizations and eminent people. It can be said with confidence that ‘Eddelu Karnataka’ has created a new type of program and worked hard to influence the vote. It has taken on the duty both of shaping the public opinion and organizing the secular voters.

Our social media teams strived to convey the issues of price hike, corruption and hate politics that have devastated the people’s lives. With more than 1000 posters in different languages, 80 videos and 8 effective song albums, they have touched people’s hearts. Apart from committed print media,s a new generation of digital media houses emerging as an alternative 1 to Godi Media has exposed BJP’s mismanagement on a large scale and foiled their plots through more than 500 stories. The effective countering of the BJP’s Urigowda – Nanje Gowda campaign is an example of this.

Eddelu Karnataka was also active on the ground, selecting 103 constituencies where BJP is strong and forming over 150 teams to take the message of “Why BJP must be defeated” to the doorsteps of the people. More than 10 lakh copies of literature were printed for this effective campaign across the state. People have memorized the three basic principles of defeating the BJP – “Voting should be increased”, “Votes should not be divided”, and “Vote only for those who can defeat the BJP”. These three formulas, especially the third one, had a great effect on the results. On the basis of this stand, efforts to defeat the BJP have been made in essence by rallying support to Congress in most constituencies, but also JDS and other candidates in a few even as the need to struggle with them eventually was also stressed.

In sum, Eddelu Karnataka has not limited itself to ideological campaigning, but has effectively reached out to the grassroots and influenced voting behavior to a good extent. The pent-up anger of the people, the hope created by the Congress party guarantees and the active role played by social forces including Eddelu Karnataka all came together to ensure victory.

This campaign has brought immense experience to civil society. It has built the confidence that people can be organized on an even larger scale by 2024. In this context, what needs to be clarified is that ‘Eddelu Karnataka’ was an independent civil society campaign. Those in it do not belong to any party and have not received any financial assistance from any party. The driving force behind the entire campaign is the urge to remove the anti-constitutional, dictatorial, socially harmful BJP from power.

Together, we have pushed back the misrule of this BJP government. But the real challenge starts here. People are fed up with BJP and have chosen Congress with great hope and expectations, despite some doubt whether the Congress would fulfil its promises. Congress now should decide whether it will meet the expectations of the people, or disappoint them. This time we said clearly, “Defeat the BJP which has brought misrule”. For us to approach the people with the same spirit in 2024, the Congress has to meet the expectations of the people. In the words of Devanura Mahadeva. “Enough of words, now works must speak”, ” 2024 will be won with deeds, not just with words”. “We must be inspired next to call for Eddelu India”. We hope that his words come true.

Related:

Social media campaigns seeking accountability gain traction ahead of Karnataka assembly elections

Citizens, civil society hold the ruling party, BJP to account: #ReportCard Karnataka

The post Eddelu Karnataka Urges Siddaramaiah Govt to Repeal Unjust Laws, Combat Hate Politics, Address Inflation/Unemployment appeared first on SabrangIndia.

In this detailed speech recorded in March 2018 in Allahabad, Teesta Setalvad addressed several senior lawyers, prominent personalities and the youth of the nation. She criticised the Facsist nature of the regime that has been built over the past few decades through the politics of hate and bigotry, the Government’s reluctance to engage with the youth of the nation and its fear for the difficult questions that today’s generation could raise. 

She also spoke about the social and political power of the youth and an emerging Bhim Sena’s contribution in countering divisive politics. 
 

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Noting as many as six attacks on minorities in recent weeks, the All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP) appealed to the Uttar Pradesh Governor to investigate such matters within the state.

The AIUFWP intends to send a letter to Governor Anandiben Patel on May 1, 2022 Labour Day to highlight the recent violent incidents of attacks on Muslim and Dalit communities. The organisations demanded that Patel highlight such incidents in the state and countrywide to prevent the violation of human rights.

“Our country is one that celebrates religious festivals. It is India’s culture to celebrate all festivals together equally. However, the last few days have shown how certain anti-social elements are using these occasions as opportunities to create a communal sentiment. They abuse the Muslim community, insult their women, religious places and symbols to create a sense of fear,” said AIUFWP in the letter.

Members pointed out that governments at the union and state-level are failing the Muslim community by treating them as second-class citizens and ignoring their rights. In some instances, the Union claimed that violent groups even violated international human rights laws.

Yet, it cited the Ram Navami attacks and especially the Khargone violence wherein the police allegedly charged Muslims for the damages. According to the AIUFWP, some of the people named in the chargesheet are already in jails or admitted in hospitals. Further, residents alleged that police invaded their houses at midnight, assaulted people, arrested men and misbehaved with the women, completely dismissing the community’s human rights.

Similarly, Muslim residents of Jahangirpuri suffered violence at the hands of an aggressive group celebrating Hanuman Jayanti. After this they were charge-sheeted. In both instances, communities also suffered the demolition of their houses by bulldozers.

Attacks on Dalits

Sadly, Muslims were not the only ones to face oppression in April. In Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli, some savarna extremists assaulted a Dalit labour youth for demanding his wages. The person was made to lick the accused’s feet. This is the same state where a Dalit man has to seek police assistance to ride a horse for his wedding.

During Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14, Odisha’s Bajrang Dal attacked a local Dalit procession. Many participants were injured. Similarly, Covid health worker Jitendra Meghwal, a Dalit man, was killed for sporting a moustache in Rajasthan.

“In all these instances, the aggrieved are minority groups, labouring for their livelihoods. This is a planned attack on people who after the global pandemic are struggling with poverty and unemployment. Such incidents are destroying the democratic values of India,” said AIUFWP.

It warned that this is a bad omen for a country based on the values of equality, freedom and brotherhood.

The entire letter may be read here:

Related:

Were only 1,064 Tribal families displaced in Odisha for mining in the last 10 years?

Karauli, Rajasthan: Muslims suffer an economic loss of over 5 crore!

Khargone’s Muslim outfits accuse police of only arresting Muslims

Hate Watch: Dalit, Covid health worker, killed for sporting moustache in Rajasthan

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The post Focus on Environment, Health and Education instead of Politics of Hate appeared first on SabrangIndia.

In the last five years communalism has reached unprecedented heights. Dissent is repeatedly squashed by the government. Those who raise their voices against communalism or the government are consistently threatened. We wish that the results will put an end to governance that functions contrary to the well-being of dalits, adivasis, Muslims, Christians, and other marginalised groups.

When it comes to party manifestos, we are usually sceptical that the parties will fulfil all the promises made by them. Yet with these elections, the manifestos of those parties that aren’t right-wing seem promising.

The Congress at the national level appears to have drafted their election manifesto in consultation with various stakeholder regional parties. There are admirable features in their manifesto, such as the re-assigning of education to state governments, exemption of states, that so choose, from NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test), and the recovery of seized Panchami Land(which is land that is earmarked for dalits), and its redistribution to those it belongs to. As a member of the Queer community who identifies as a gay male, I have a reason to look forward to these elections.

This will be the first election to be held after IPC Section 377, which criminalised same-sex relations, was struck down in 2018. Given this, there is an expectation that political parties will be meeting the demands, or at least discuss, the rights and needs of the LGBTQIA community. For the reasons of, either owing to this pressure or recognising the need to do so.

The Communist parties were ahead in this regard and have been talking about gay rights for a few years now. But when they have been in power at the Centre or in some states, they have failed to change anything.

In the case of Tamil Nadu this last February the DK (Dravida Kazagham) – the parent movement from which DMK (Dravida Munetra Kazahgam) and AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhagam) were formed, released its manifesto. The DK made its demands known much before either the DMK or the AIADMK did, (please note: the DK is a social movement and the ideological forebear of the Dravidian parties. It is not a political party. The DMK broke away from the DK in late 40s to enter electoral politics). Even though the DK’s progressive demands for gay and transgender rights and civil union for those of legal age may not directly impact electoral politics, it is believed that it will exert pressure on Dravidian parties contesting the elections.

The Indian National Congress that has made an alliance with the DMK in Tamil Nadu, in its manifesto, sought to replace the 2018 Trans Bill introduced by the Modi Government, with a Private Members Bill introduced in 2014 by DMK Rajya Sabha MP Tiruchi Siva. This is a commendable move. The manifesto also says that the party will make efforts to recognise both civil unions and marriages of same-sex couples. It is undeniable that the manifesto of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) is impressive and succinct.

As a member of the gay community, these manifestos make me glad. Despite living in a democracy that claims to grant equality to all citizens, a section had been living a life in which their rights were taken from them and for the first time, these rights are being talked about in electoral politics. The manifestos reflect the possibility of change for those who have been denied their rights, in the name of religion, notions of gender, tradition, and culture.

There are many expectations from Congress if they come to power. I hope that it will not stop with just the manifesto. Right to Education and Employment need to be assured. Education, in its current form, does not help adolescent members of the LGBTQIA community understand their own sexuality. This needs to change. There should be reservations for Transgender people in higher education, in both public and private institutions. New acts need to be passed to protect gay and lesbian people from forced marriages. Their right to dignity needs to be ensured.

Those in government, at both the Centre and state level, have to be made aware of what exists apart of heterosexuality. The Police need to be trained to sensitively handle cases of discrimination. Members of the LGBTQIA community need to be involved in the making of policies which are in their interest. Every state needs to have welfare associations for them, which need to be run only by government officials who have a holistic understanding of the needs of the community and not through NGOs. Schemes such as NREGA have to be inclusive of members of the community. Laws governing marriage, inheritance, adoption, domestic violence need to also be inclusive. Welfare schemes for Transgender people must include making surgery easily accessible, straightforward methods of changing their names and sex on official documents and more.

For the first steps towards such schemes, the Congress-led alliance needs to first come to power. Tamil Nadu has been a state that has fiercely protested against governments that disregard democracy and the rights of citizens. As early as 2009, DMK set up a Transgender Welfare Board. MP Kanimozhi promised her support to the LGBTQIA community when Section 377 was struck down. It feels like a charade as these sentiments have not been reflected in their current manifesto. Yet, let us go towards these elections in the hope that the DMK and its allies in Tamil Nadu, such as Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), will carry the conversation forward.

Courtesy: Indian Cultural Forum

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The “Artists Unite!” platform held a convention in Delhi on 2 & 3 March 2019, and simultaneously similar events nationwide on these dates to, “weigh in with a collective voice, and with a creative energy that asserts arts and literature as a means of resistance to the hate politics that is sweeping the country and to mitigate the challenges to democracy.”

Courtesy: Indian Cultural Forum

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Is hate-politics really working in milking the votes for BJP. Losing in assembly elections in three big states, a reality check of Modi led BJP. A detailed post-mortem of why is Modi magic failing by Abhisar Sharma in Newschakra’s episode 7.  

Courtesy: Newsclick.in

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Forget about the Ram Raj, Congress Raj, Modi Raj, etc. It’s jungle raj, established in India, since the rule of a pseudo nationalist party, which has been proved to be the God of Devils. India is repeatedly raped, looted, ditched and murdered over and over again under this devil rule.

Devils have been set free to perpetuate whatever crime they want as they have the full support of their Lord and his associates in the name of religion and categories, aided by land, power, and money. The hypothesis that India is going to perish under this party’s rule has become a fact. Communal riots all over the country have led to spread of hatred, fear, lack of trust among the fellow citizens. Every religion in this world has a clear message: Do good deeds and abstain from evils. Help each other and live peacefully among each other. But this party rule has taken it otherwise: Spread communal hatred and support the criminals. Forget about the religious preaching of Vedas and appoint the Babas as ministers to carry out prayers on the roof of the government buildings to shoe away the chaos created by their rule.

In February 2015, at an event organized by the Christian community, Modi addressed his citizens and gave a sweeping speech. He said, “My government will not allow any religious group, belonging to the majority or the minority, to incite hatred against others, overtly or covertly. Mine will be a government that gives equal respect to all religions. India is the land of Buddha and Gandhi. Equal respect for all religions must be in the DNA of every Indian. We cannot accept violence against any religion on any pretext and I strongly condemn such violence. My government will act strongly in this regard.”

Just a month later, talking about women safety in his much celebrated speech series Mann Ki Baat, he spoke, “our heads hang in shame when we hear of instances of crime against women”.

And yet, what happened in Kathua – temple or not, marks a frighteningly new low for India’s oft-mutilated socio-political ethos.

Almost three years later, we as a nation find ourselves at the precipice of true evil. Two gruesome crimes, both of which resonate exactly opposite to what PM assured us of – the horrifying gang rape and murder of the eight-year-old baby Asifa inside a temple premise of Kathua and the rape of an 18-year-old girl by the BJP MLA, Kuldeep Singh Sengar in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh.

A child, who should have ideally been throwing a fit about her heavy third-grade bag, came face to face with the most demonic side of the human form, simply because she belonged to “them”, and they needed to be a taught a lesson. In the Kathua minor’s case they were the Muslim nomadic tribe Bakerwals, who’d allegedly been having run-ins with the Hindus of Kathua over their animals grazing Hindu lands. The most audacious way the drunk-on-muscle-power Sanjhi Ram and gang found to assert their supremacy was to kidnap, drug, rape and murder an eight-year-old. To send a message to the other side that this is what we can do to your women and girls, if you don’t fall in line. Dishonor them. Dishonor you. Because the flimsy honor of a man in a conservative society invariably rests in a vagina.

For one, this wasn’t a case of a frenzied mob plundering and pillaging anything that came in the way. It was a premeditated act carried out with a specific purpose. Two, the vulgar confidence of the perpetrators in their political clout convincing them of their comfortable places above the law – at least in their heads, couldn’t have possibly come from nothing. Even as active attempts are being made by certain sections to de-link this rape from the political milieu, how does one overlook acts like formation of Hindu Ekta Manch with at least two BJP leaders on their side or the obscene protest of local lawyers – byproducts of ugly arrogance?

The similarities in both these cases are agonizing. The rapists were all men in power, supported by other support groups in power. Both the girls belonged to a minority group with baby Asifa being a Bakarwal – A Sunni Muslim Nomadic tribe and the Unnao survivor being a Dalit. In both cases, their identity of being a ‘woman of minority’ was used against them. In Kathua, it was used by the Hindu men to send out a strong message to the Bakarwal community urging them to leave their land whereas the Unnao survivor’s Dalit identity was used to question her and her family’s credibility. Both cases saw rape as a tool used by the powerful to ‘satisfy their lust’ and teach minorities a lesson. Both these cases rightly proved that our country’s leaders and supposed protectors are true bigots, religion-fueled hypocrisy is only masquerading to be secular.

These cases proved that interests of the majority overpower the entire legal, judicial and social systems – rendering marginalized victims often helpless and powerless.

Yes, rape is a common crime in India. But we need to acknowledge the fact that rape is also being used as a tool. The sexism we face is racialized and communalized too. In the case of baby Asifa, the reason behind her rape and murder was to threaten the minority Bakerwal tribe to move out of that particular area. Eight-year-old baby Asifa’s rape and murder was not an opportunist crime, but a result of the politics of hatred by Hindu supremacists that dehumanizes Muslims.

Hindu nationalists will trivialize the rape of a Muslim by ignoring it or by representing it as a conspiracy to malign the Hindu community and nation. But that the lawyer for baby Asifa’s family as well as the main police official in charge of the investigation are themselves Hindus illustrates that this is not a Hindu versus Muslim struggle but one between Hindu supremacists and those who believe in the possibility of an India where human lives matter regardless of faith.

The little girl is a victim not only of the rise of this vicious strain of nationalism which pits one community against another, especially at a time when resources are strained. She is a victim also of the sanctioned savagery that is in full force in India currently – sanctioned not only by the actions of groups that call themselves Hindu-Ekta-Morcha but also the silence, and delayed speaking out, of those who run this government.

The imagination of the Muslim as the dangerous Other to the Hindu Self has a conspicuous, sexualized dimension. Muslim men are seen as seductive lovers or possible rapists of Hindu women and the response that this politics of imagination puts forward is for Hindu men to emulate and (re)masculinize themselves. Rape of Muslim women and murder of Muslim men are legitimized as “revenge” and securing the Hindu Self. Baby Asifa’s rape and murder was not an opportunist crime, but a result of this politics of hatred that dehumanizes Muslims.

There is famous saying that if you are not a solution to any problem, you yourself are a problem. We can’t blame only the system and politicians for anything going wrong with the society and country. Silence is complicity. We should speak up univocally against every crime be it smaller or bigger and have to join our hands together to fight the odds, above any religion and community. Moreover, supporting any perpetuator on account of his/her religion or any political party background further tears apart the social peace and harmony. As we have seen in Kathua case, a group of people led a march defending the accused with national anthem chanting and carrying national flag. Do they justify the crime done by them? It’s a matter of shame for the humanity. The biased opposition would lead us to nowhere. There are still more temples, and the rapist can find a new Asifa. Before this happens again, the culprits should be hanged as soon as possible to set an example and prevent such cases. Justice delayed is justice denied.

SAMI UL GANI, M.Tech ECE & working for CEB Global (India), is basically a Kashmiri (south Kashmir) working in mainland India. I’m quite interested in Indian politics especially since the Modi rule began. Also, I’ve been witness to worst kind of politics as I belong to a conflict zone & therefore like any other Kashmiri understanding politics is a must for our survival.
 

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While the situation in each state is different, there is a pattern of the BJP’s strategy, which in a flexible manner, supplemented by massive resources, near-perfect electoral machinery and the backing of its parent organisation’sswayamsevaks is reaping electoral benefits in state after state. In Assam, it focused mainly on the Bangladeshi immigrants, the Muslims swamping the state and threatening that Hindus will be reduced to a minority. It was clever enough to strike alliances even with separatist organisations. Most of the regional organisation in the area looks at Congress as the party that has not focused on development; the BJP, while at one level abuses those differing with its ideology as ‘anti nationals’, has no compunction at all in allying with those who have been talking of separate state or even secession. In Tripura, the left government, despite its clean record, failed to fulfil the aspirations of tribal people and OBCs in matters of reservation. It also failed miserably in creating employment opportunities for the youth, which gave the ground to the BJP to promise and create the illusion of development.

The BJP mainly harped on two major factors here. One is the promise of development. Although by now its claims of development across the country stand exposed as mere vote-catching slogans, in the North East they could still sell Prime Minister NarendraModi as a development man. ManikSarkar’s failure to implement the new pay commissions must have hurt large numbers as they are still stuck at fourth pay commission while talk of seventh pay commission is in the air. In Tripura, they could also emphasise that ‘Hindus are Refugees: Muslim is infiltrators’ to influence the Bengali Hindu votes. In tribal areas, RSS swayamsevaks working consistently by organising religious functions, opening schools etc. for a long time have succeeded in turning the tables, as ManikSarkar’s government failed to address the needs of tribals in matters of opportunities. In matters of beef, the BJP openly took the hypocritical stance that their ban on cow slaughter and eating beef, which is being imposed in different parts of country, will not be enforced in the North East. Like most of the issues raised by RSS-BJP, the holy cow is a political tool for dividing society and when the crunch comes they manipulate the issue as they have done in Kerala and Goa on the issue of beef and cow slaughter.

Towering over Christian voters, Modi talked of rescuing 46 nurses from ISIS captivity in Iraq and Father Alex Premkumar from Taliban captivity. What can one say on these issues? Were they rescued as they were Indians or were they rescued because they belong to a particular religion? As is the wont with Modi-type politics, these situations are exploited in a crass political manner. Despite the fact that their ideology regards Christians and Muslims as foreigners, they at the same time manipulate these identities for electoral gains. In Tripura, the majority of Congress and TMC MLAs migrated to the BJP, and electoral support also shifted to the BJP. What worked for BJP here was the anti-Bangladeshi sentiment along with the illusory promise of development.

In Meghalaya, the situation is different. Though Congress emerged as the single largest party and logically should have been given the chance to form the government, the Hindu nationalist Governor thought otherwise and the second-largest party, in alliance with practically everybody including the BJP, is going to form the Government. Here the failure of the BJP to win over the electorate is writ large on the results; what is putting them in the camp of power is the alliance with a regional party, which has had amicable relations with the Congress. The role of the BJP’s clout, including money and muscle, is the undercurrent of the story.

There are a lot of lessons for the left in Tripura to learn, with the issue of addressing the problems of the youth, tribals and the OBCs being paramount. Moreover, the issue of the BJP manipulating all possible ways to come to power is something that can be ignored only at the risk of severe declines in the electoral power of the left and other parties. What is being labeled as Karat line, not allying with Congress, will surely decimate the left in the times to come, probably sooner rather than later, as this line underestimates the potential and deeper agenda of BJP-RSS. It ignores the threat of the powerful electoral machine built by BJP over time, and its capability of manipulating issues like beef, and the conversion by Christian missionaries, and taking two different positions in different parts of the country and getting away with it.

The emotive politics unleashed by the BJP-RSS is visible again through the attack on Lenin’s statue and the attacks on CPM workers. What is in store for future of the region if democratic forces don’t rise to the occasion is anybody’s guess.
 

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Image: Courtesy Hindustan Times

Electoral candidates who have been accused of communal offences win more often than candidates free of such charges. Candidates charged with non-communal crimes too stand a better chance of winning than the ones without blame. But those with communal offences have better prospects than those charged with non-communal crimes.

These are the disturbing findings of an analysis of political aspirants to the Lok Sabha or state assemblies conducted by the Hindustan Times. Mercifully, the number of candidates with criminal charges fielded by the various political parties is a small percentage of total candidates fielded by them. The analysis is based on a study of more than 50,000 candidates who contested elections in the past five years.

Of the 41,488 candidates who had no charges against them, 2,550 were successful, giving a success rate of 6%. In comparison, of the 8,649 candidates with non-communal criminal offences against them, 1,201 were successful: strike rate 14%. Meanwhile, of the 187 candidates charged with communal offences, 53 won: strike rate 28%. In short, communal-majoritarianism pays political dividends.
From among the high-profile political leaders, those with communal offences registered against them include Union cabinet minister, Uma Bharti, UP chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, his deputy CM, Keshav Prasad Maurya and the Owaisi brothers from the All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).  

Expectedly, the largest number of candidates with communal cases against them was fielded by the BJP: 48 out of 3,727 candidates (1.3% of total). In comparison, of the 3,553 candidates nominated by the Congress only 12 had been booked for communal offences.

The Hindustan Times’ analysis showed that only one political candidate had been convicted while the other cases remain pending.

Read the full Hindustan Times report.  
 
 

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