The Modi-Shah combine has done it again. After springing a surprise in the aftermath of UP elections by bringing a dark horse as Chief minister in Adityanath Yogi, the duo has repeated the same this time by nominating Ramnath Kovind who is a dalit as presidential candidate. This kind of decision which has national importance and has huge stakes for BJP would not have been taken without the green signal from RSS. There was an urgent need for BJP to shed its upper caste image which it has been identified with, with most of its leaders belonging to upper crust. At the same time there was need for it also to acquire a pro dalit image in the wake of Saharanpur atrocities on dalits and misdemeanors of over enthusiastic new crop of cow vigilante brigades. A makeover was required for BJP towards a pro dalit leaning with next big parliamentary election in 2019 in mind.
Be that as it may, the decision to nominate Ramnath Kovind is a master stroke. It is a great balancing act of the toughest order simply because, the two polar opposites of the ideological divide ie., the RSS and the dalit community have been appeased simultaneously. It is a well thought of idea. It has killed two birds in a single stone. It has caught the opposition completely unawares. It has made the opposition look like a rabbit in the headlights. The opposition is completely clueless by this coup. It has sent the opposition coalition that was getting shape with the initiative of Sonia Gandhi into tatters. It has killed the coalition before it is born with Nitesh Kumar switching over to NDA. The rise of Modi like a Phoenix in Indian political arena is proving too much for the entire opposition. No one knows which tune this pied piper plays and when.
The narrative of this development is solely revolving around the caste which Ramnath Kovind belongs to. The other attributes of him like his vast experience as Supreme Court lawyer, his knowledge of the constitution, his personal integrity, his gubernatorial experience and his noncontroversial persona are not at all highlighted. This is not a good augury. The positive and strong attributes of a person who is going to occupy the highest constitutional position of the land should be the subject for discourse and not the caste to which he belongs. This proves that caste is an inevitable and ugly factor in Indian politics.
Now that BJP has hijacked the most wanted thing, it should not be content with mere tokenism. Politics of tokenism has run its full course. The dalits want something concrete and long-lasting contribution to the community than symbolic gestures which are ephemeral and will soon be forgotten. It has to cease the opportunity to prove to the world that it has better secular credentials.
Will Modi, the magician produce the result and not just the trick?
K N Krishnan. 94496 12446
Vice-president,
SEWA, Bangalore
It is undoubtedly a political masterstroke against the Opposition desperately looking for unity.
ReplyDeleteAs a person, there is nothing that can be arraigned against this sober looking non-controversial gentleman.
And he is no BJP version of Pratibha Patil, having cleared even the Civil Services, besides having practiced at the SC.
It is an unpublicized fact that there are any no. of Dalit personalities among the RSS cadres. In fact, there is complete absence of casteism in the RSS. And,BJP consistently wins the maximum no.of Reserved Constituencies, election after election.
Nevertheless, we shud reach a stage where caste shud not matter at all. And the sooner the better for the country.
Thanks for your comments.Your last Para - my response, it is easier said than done because identification of a person is done automatically and subconsciously with that of the caste in our caste ridden society.
ReplyDeleteLet us hope positive and for better tomorrow for the people of the country where more than 70% of them belong to category fortunately the BJP candidate for the President is chosen. The BJP is playing master stroke really. But people of the country will have to examine the score card.
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