Could 2019 be the last polls held under a secular state?

The India of 2017 is in some ways reminiscent of the India of 1977 when Opposition leader Jayaprakash Narayan, popularly referred to as JP, famously admonished the crowds at a mass rally that “this would be the last free elections if Congress is voted back to power”

bindu dalmia Social commentator and author of national bestseller Diary of a Lutyens’ Princess

The India of 2017 is in some ways reminiscent of the India of 1977 when Opposition leader Jayaprakash Narayan, popularly referred to as JP, famously admonished the crowds at a mass rally that “this would be the last free elections if Congress is voted back to power”. Fortunately, we are nowhere close to that perilous period in history when freedom of expression was suspended. But to modify JP’s words, could 2019 be ‘the last elections’ held under the secular Indian State?


If Prime Minister Narendra Modi repeats his resounding electoral feat of 2014 in a country where 80 per cent of the population are Hindus and who have reaffirmed their trust in his first innings, fundamentalists could well push for transforming the idea of India to a modernised version of a ‘Hindu-Pakistan’, albeit through dialogue, consensus and Constitutional amendments. Modi will then be confronted with a tough choice on his inclusive goal of ‘Bharat Jodo’, juxtaposed to Parivar’s exclusivist pursuit of a Hindu Rashtra.


Increasingly, as Modi grows more statesmanlike in his sankalp to free India of Communalism by 2022, minorities have little to fear. But the hardliners will keep the communal cauldron burning, turning more assertive in proportion to the BJP’s margin of victory in 2019, way beyond Modi’s control. Though growing vigilantism is condemned by the secular elite as also the government, inversely, the Modi-Shah-RSS trinity has kept gaining traction through the polarisation and, thereby, consolidating the Hindu vote bank by quantum leaps. 


We stand at a historic inflection point where the Modi regime successfully rid India of ills of dynastic democracy, synonymous with corruption, yet also synonymous with the secular ideals of  the Constitution. The diminishing pluralistic nature of our polity, despite the nation having outlived the European Union, is riddled with possibilities of India being reduced to what historian Ramchandra Guha terms as a ‘50:50 democracy’. Because the super-dominance of the Parivar’s worldview of ‘Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan: one language, one religion and one country’, along with their core ideology of cultural oneness, overrides religious diversity in a nation that has been a confluence of diverse faiths. This may not be perceived well by minorities, but the underlying sentiments of re-electing Modi would be a reflection of the will of the majority. A majority that does not desire lingual, dress, culinary preferences, or artistic expression dictated by the government, nor desirous of a theocratic State. Instead, one that would want compartmentalising temple from State, and clergy from administration, yet restore Hindu parity after years of historic subjugation to colonisers and invaders till 70 years ago, reversing historic injustices.


Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ catchword tapped into popular sentiments for preferential rights of American- born citizens over migrants in getting jobs. Similarly, moving towards a ‘Hindu’s First’ ideal would mean the will of the Hindu community subsumes over the rest. While Hindutva is the dominant ideology of the BJP, it will not be the ideological plank on which 2019 will be fought or won, the ‘mudda’ being crucial issues on jobs or the state of the economy. However, the byproduct of a BJP-majority win will be the covert agenda of those desirous of a ‘Hindu- First’/a ‘Hindu-only nation’, a choice Modi the modernist will have to make. Should it be BJP 3.0 in 2019, at best, secularism redefined will mean progress for all, and appeasement of none, with a Uniform Civil Code for one and all, which is a fair and consensual way forward, but can never find favour with parties that thrive on vote bank politics.  gdalmia73@gmail.com

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