By Binoy Viswam
Ever since the battle for Uttar Pradesh has begun, the RSS – BJP big shots are anxious about their political fortunes. Though states like Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa also are scheduled for the polls, the chieftains of the Sangh Parivar are more nervous about UP. They believe that the verdict of UP would have a direct impact on the great battle of 2024. Hence, the lion’s share of their resources, time and energy are devoted for the largest state in the north.
Initially the Modi-Yogi-Amit Shah combination thought that it is going to be an easy business that would give them a gigantic victory. When they found that the opposition is not united, the confidence level in the Parivar camp heightened and they began to talk about the continuation of the Yogi era. But the popular mood in UP has been moving in a different direction. It has been contrary to the wishes of the Modi camp. In such a situation, Yogi Adityanath who nurtures bigger political designs even beyond the borders of UP, has ample reasons to become frantic.
Adityanath’s repeated references to Kerala in his campaign is not accidental. His venomous speech accusing Kerala was a calculated move. Sangh Parivar wants to shift the focus of the campaign from people’s issues to something else. The masterminds in Yogi’s war room thought that Kerala bashing would help them to divert the trend in their favour. In 2017 they unleashed communal riots in various parts of UP in order to capture political power. In 2022 they have come up with new arms and ammunitions. In fact, they have been at it all along their tenure of five years. The Yogi government has been sowing the seeds of hatred since long.
Following the footprints of Ayodhya where Babri Masjid was demolished, they intensified their campaign around temples in Varanasi and Mathura. The war cry was highly communal and against the Muslim places of worship. It was with a blind, irrational way of politics with the sole purpose of ‘divide and rule’. Though they tried to unleash the campaign at a massive scale, the realization was slowly dawning that Mandir-Masjid controversy alone would not come to their rescue this time. The think- tanks of Sangh Parivar were asked to work overtime to find methods to swim over the tide.
People’s wrath in UP against the BJP government is the natural outcome of their misrule. The promises to the farmers at the end of the one year long struggle remain unfulfilled. Workers are thrown to unprecedented hardships. Dalits and Adivasis are always denied their basic human rights. Their ‘jal, jungle, jameen’ are all taken away by the corporates with the connivance of BJP rulers. The plight of women has become miserable. Unemployment keeps staring at the youth. Prices are shooting up. The divide between the rich and the poor is rapidly growing through their deliberated highways of development. No doubt, Yogi government has every reason to believe that the soil beneath their feet is eroding. That feeling of insecurity makes them fearful and more aggressive.
BJP attempts to launch ruthless attacks against Kerala is the essential part of their ideological and political stance. Together with that Yogi Adityanath dropped in Maharashtra and Bengal to give some additional flavour to the tirade against Kerala. Naturally it boomeranged on them in several ways. People of UP were urged by their incumbent chief minister to look deep into the socio-political realities of life in Kerala. It gave an opportunity to the left and democratic forces to explain the difference between the styles of governance that exist in these two states. Kerala, depicted by the crusaders of hatred trained by the RSS propaganda wing, stood devoid of facts. For the Yogi school of politics all forms of lies are sacred, as long as it serves their purpose. Essentially, such propaganda items have to keep ‘safe’ distance from truth. In Yogi’s UP, where the doctrines of post truth guide the government, that distance was kept with utmost sharpness. There Kerala was introduced as a most undeveloped landmass where primitive people live! That is why, Yogi Adityanath chose to threaten his voters saying that UP would become Kerala, if he is removed from Power.
What is the reality of life in Kerala and UP? Let the development indices of Kerala speak and let the people compare it with that of UP. NITI Aayog itself has come out with its multi-dimensional poverty index report (2021). In that report 37.79 percent of UP population have been identified as poor whereas Kerala has the poverty rate of only 0.71 percent! The multi -dimensional poverty index indicates matters related to health, education, and standard of living. While nutrition, child mortality and maternal health are the indicators for health, years of schooling and school attendance are referred for education. Access to cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, ownership of assets and bank accounts are counted to determine Standard of Living. Despite UP being the top producer of food stuffs, the MPI reveals that Nutrition level stands at the lowest. Kerala, the state that Yogi wanted to degrade stands at the top in NITI Aayog’s Sustainable Development Goal index 2020-21 of the country. The world has taken notice of Kerala’s meticulous development in areas like health, education, and social welfare.
If the people of UP are allowed to cast their votes free and fair, they would vote only the Kerala way. Perhaps because of that, on second thoughts Yogi Adityanath tried to bring in the question of law and order to this debate. But here also the truth is not on his side. According to the National Crime Records Bureau report (2020), UP stands first in kidnapping and murder with 12,913 cases and 3779 cases respectively. Kerala can be nowhere near these numbers. Let the people take note of that difference. (IPA Service)
Kerala would be ready to take up the challenge from Yogi Adityanath. The left and democratic forces who stood firmly in Kerala since 1957 to evolve a people-friendly path of development are proud of their achievements. (IPA Service)