Of friends & foes: The perpetual poll mode malady

Look at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corp. (BMC) polls, a ward-level election fought viciously. Estranged Thackeray brothers closed ranks. Raj Thackeray’s speeches betrayed Shiv Sena’s six decade old anti-Tamil rhetoric. He labelled Tamil Mumbaikars as ‘Rasmalai’ and called them names reminiscent of Shiv Sena’s founder Bala Saheb Thackeray’s old lexicon. If non-Marathi people contribute to Mumbai’s success, then why don’t they have the equal right to its resources? ’Amchi Mumbai’ (My Mumbai) is their permanent address now. So, why the discrimination?

The fear of losing 30 year-long control over the BMC forced the Thackeray family to resurrect the ‘Marathi Manush’ slogan. Even the Pawar family came together in the battle of survival after a nasty fallout between the uncle (Sharad Pawar) and the nephew (Ajit). It’s clear BMC elections achieved ‘ghar wapsi’ (return home), something the Lok Sabha and state polls had failed on.

How did this miracle come about? It’s not too difficult to gauge. With an annual budget at ₹75,000 crore, BMC is India’s richest municipal corporation with a budget larger than nine states. Balasaheb Thackeray once captured it and steered Shiv Sena to its glory. Mumbai decides the state’s political direction. To control the city, political families can indulge in fratricide, close ranks and can become rivals again. Even their whips can disintegrate.

For the BMC elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Shiv Sena Shinde factions and Ajit Pawar’s NCP, which share power in the state, fought against each other on many seats. In Ambernath, the BJP and Congress joined hands to secure the chairman’s post, a tectonic event that created ripples even in Delhi.

Who gained from these strange alliances? The BJP. The Thackeray and Pawar families lost big time. The writing on the wall is clear that the time for opportunistic alliances is over. It also proved that the Congress party is becoming a dangerous liability for its allies.

Maharashtra municipal elections are now over. But the upcoming assembly elections in West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Assam are once again fanning separatist tendencies.

Mamata Banerjee’s actions at the Kolkata Enforcement Directorate (ED) office were unprecedented. The Trinamool Congress alleged the ED wasn’t conducting a raid to unearth financial fraud but was trying to get hold of TMC’s election-related documents.

The Supreme Court has given Mamata a severe tongue-lashing and has stayed the FIRs lodged against the ED officials.

Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin is not far behind. On 11 January, he wrote to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the letter, he demanded that Modi should talk to Sri Lanka President and should secure the rights of the Lankan Tamils in their proposed constitutional reforms. During Sri Lankan prime minister Harini Amarsurya’s visit last year also, Stalin had written to Modi asking him to take the Kacchativu island back from the neighbouring nation. Both the island and discrimination against Tamil minorities in Sri Lanka are age-old issues. Former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi had lost his life dealing with it. But politics has turned into an endless game of repackaging old toxic ideas in a new form.

Stalin’s nephew and DMK lawmaker Dayanidhi Maran is doing his bit too. On Monday, in a speech with a clear separatist tone, he said, “In Tamil Nadu, we have the confidence to ask our girls to study and constantly study further. But what about north India? They say girls don’t go to work, stay at home, stay in the kitchen, raise children, this is your job..."

Like Stalin, Farooq Abdullah, who claims to be a patriot, insists on taking Pakistan on board in dealing with the Kashmir issue. The language Assam chief minister Hemant Biswa Sarma is using to win elections is fuelling anti-India sentiments in Bangladesh. It’s creating difficulties for the Hindu minority in Bangladesh.

Isn’t it time our leaders weighed their words in the age of social media, where a stray comment possesses the incendiary power of inciting murderous mobs globally? Why do they forget the country is beyond the ephemeral cycle of elections and power?

Shashi Shekhar is editor-in-chief, Hindustan. Views are personal.