Poll results: Is Modi searching for other polarizing issues?
It is not without reason that the Indian media has suddenly started talking about the north-south divide in terms of political behavior
It is also to be emphasized that Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah do not depend on a single polarizing issue. They cover a whole range of issues to remain in power and make India a Hindu Rashtra. However, communal polarization is at the top of their list
The coverage of election results in five States by the Indian media has only displayed the bankruptcy of the so-called intellectual class. Instead of looking into the growing crisis the Indian State is facing, the media is engaged in trumpeting the drums of the BJP. Though a tiny group of liberals looks concerned with the larger issue of declining democracy, secularism, and federalism in the country, their voice hardly gets the required space. The results have further expanded the scope of collaboration between the media and the ruling BJP for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The most dangerous narrative that is gaining ground amidst the communal atmosphere we have in India is that of the north-south divide. After losing hope of any sway over the southern states, the BJP is in search of a few more polarizing narratives other than what it has already in its bag. Prime Minister Modi has seen the diminishing power of Hindutva in Karnataka. The vote share in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh is not that high to make him confident of winning the 2024 elections on the plank of the Hindutva. He is also aware of his waning charisma. He could not influence elections in two of the five States, which might have alarmed him about his limited appeal across India.
It is not without reason that the Indian media has suddenly started talking about the north-south divide in terms of political behavior. They say that the Hindi belt and South India behave differently. Those intellectuals who do not subscribe to the RSS ideology have started endorsing the narrative of this divide. They talk of the contradiction between the Dravidian worldview and Brahmanism and Hinduism. Tamil political parties also have an interest in reviving the debate on Sanatan versus Dravidian ideology. The recent comment from a DMK MP that the BJP wins elections only in Gaumutra states can also be seen as a similar attempt. Does it strengthen anti-Modi politics? If it does, it only helps the new narrative of the RSS based on geography that the Hindi belt is more Hindu than the southern states.
The RSS has been trying to gain a foothold in the southern States. It has been active for a long time and has created some bases in these States; however, it could not become a significant force except in Karnataka. Its defeat in recent assembly elections in the State has blocked its way to other parts of the south. The desire to grow in southern States had forced the BJP to suspend its Hindi-only stance. To consolidate its hold over the cowbelt, Prime Minister Modi has abandoned the Atal-Advani era and started pushing Hindi. The attempt to impose Hindi has revived the politics of language that had been in slumber. The BJP is trying to provoke non-Hindi speakers from the south, east, and other parts of the country. It helps the saffron party in the Hindi belt. The party has generated a new controversy by putting Hindi names for new versions of the Criminal Procedure Code, the Indian Panel Code, and the Evidence Act.
Can regional variations be defined in this colonial vocabulary? Inspired by rabid racism, colonial masters invented the north-south divide and the Dravidian versus Aryan conflict. Recent genetic studies show that there has hardly been any racial divide. For the cultural divide, Indians have shown great appetite. Every single State has a diversity of customs, dialects, and many other things. The country has a history of respecting this diversity. Can the North boast of a uniform culture and language? This so-called Hindi belt is a misnomer. Very few people in northern India speak the official version of Hindi. Khadi Boli, the official version of Hindi, has subjugated several dialects, including Bhojpuri, Maithili, Avadhi, Brajbhasha, Rajasthani, Haryanavi, and others.
The same is true for the south. There has been profound diversity in South India. It has a diverse culture and language. Each State has its history and culture; how can they be clubbed together in a superficially generated category? Is it not true that ancient languages, including Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada, thrived parallel? Like other parts of the country, they interacted with each other. This exchange was not limited to a particular geographical area but covered the entire subcontinent.
Some people are overemphasizing the economic divide between the north and south. They site an abysmal state of economy in the cow belt. Undoubtedly, there is a big gap in economic development between northern and southern states. But this gap could be seen across the country. Odisha is not a part of the cow belt, yet it has a similar state of poverty. We can see how Haryana and Himachal Pradesh cannot be compared with Bihar, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh. Maharashtra and Gujarat are better placed in terms of industrial development than Kerala.
The logic that the South and the North behave differently also does not hold water. Had Karnataka not returned to the BJP like Madhya Pradesh did? Had West Bengal and Kerala behaved similarly in allowing the CPIM to rule these States? Do Tamils behave like Keralites and vote for a communist government?
The same is true for the northern States. Uttar Pradesh has accepted the BJP since 2017, and Bihar has rejected it.
It is also to be emphasized that Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah do not depend on a single polarizing issue. They cover a whole range of issues to remain in power and make India a Hindu Rashtra. However, communal polarization is at the top of their list. The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill is an example. The bill is aimed at invoking an anti-Kashmir feeling among the people of the rest of India. The issue of a separate flag has been raised for this purpose. How can one forget that the RSS rejected tricolor as the national flag? Now, to capitalize on national feelings, they try to appropriate this legacy of the freedom movement and make it a polarizing issue.
Will these polarizing issues help Modi retain power in 2024?
(The author is a senior journalist. He has experience of working with leading newspapers and electronic media including Deccan Herald, Sunday Guardian, Navbharat Times and Dainik Bhaskar. He writes on politics, society, environment and economy)
