By Arun Srivastava
Prime Minister Narendra Modi deriding and insulting the united opposition front, INDIA, and drawing parallels with the likes of the erstwhile British East India Company, the outlawed outfit Indian Mujahideen and the Popular Front of India, has certainly not come as a shock. Expecting PM Modi to speak respectfully of the political opposition is tantamount to living in a fool’s paradise. By lampooning INDIA, the acronym of Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, and describing it as the most directionless tie-up the country had ever seen, he was simply accomplishing the RSS’s mission of downplaying the rising oppositional momentum.
Being the topmost executive of India, one could expect that he was not making a casual remark. He was speaking the language of the Hindu supremacist rightist force currently at the helm of the country, the RSS. Modi and his BJP colleagues have been rhetorically hiding behind their so-called ‘Indian nationalism’ for winning over people and elections. Recall how the brutal killings of 40 CRPF soldiers was exploited by Modi on the plea of upholding the supercharged spirit of ultra-nationalism to win the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Undeniably, the opposition alliance has completely unnerved Modi and his RSS mentor, Mohan Bhagwat. Earlier, it was much easier for them to attack Congress and speak ill of the Nehru-Gandhi family, since they appeared to be isolated from the mainstream opposition. But after the massive success of Bharat Jodo Yatra of Rahul Gandhi, which brilliantly countered Modi’s narrative of politics of hate and divisiveness, followed by the launching of the joint opposition platform, INDIA, Modi and Bhagwat are genuinely worried. The only option left to them is to let their political hate come out of the woodwork without beating about the bush. Modi mustering courage to deride India is part of the said design.
This derision of INDIA by Modi has failed to move Bhagwat and others RSS leaders, as Modi has been implementing their policies and programmes. With 2024 Lok Sabha election knocking at the door, the BJP leadership, and especially Modi, are desperately searching for a new narrative and new idiom. Modi’s jibe against the opposition name is not simply an off-the-cuff remark; instead, it’s a well-designed attack on INDIA. Having exhausted their gimmicks, they are now latching on to a new phrase and phase to catch the fanciful imagination of the Modi-fied Hindus. The RSS and BJP leadership would like to go to the polls with the new slogan of “Naya Bharat”.
It ought not to be forgotten that Modi has been repeatedly emphasising on 2014, the year he came to occupy the chair of prime minister, as the year India became ‘truly independent’. He had rechristened India as ‘New India’ and it did not strike him then that the word ‘India was colonial gift to perpetuate their in-absentia rule’, as he now proclaims.
Testing the waters, Modi, instead of uttering this disrespectful phrase in full public domain, chose to express it at the parliamentary party meeting of the BJP. It was a shrewd move to gauge the reaction of his party members. He had also told his MPs that the name of the new Opposition alliance was to “mislead the people”. He said: “East India Company, Indian National Congress, Indian Mujahideen and the Popular Front of India also had India in their name”. Modi also said: “Opposition was frustrated because their leaders have realised that they would remain in the Opposition even after next year’s general election”.
The threat perception of losing the 2024 election is so acute that RSS is taking up the cudgels to lead the electioneering. As the first step, the RSS top brass will hold organisational meetings in Kolkata on August 18 and 19. It will be attended by party members and some senior BJP leaders. The RSS leadership has already made public its reservation to Modi’s leadership. Even a section of the top RSS leaders favour projecting a new face as the new prime minister.
These leaders are quite optimistic of a new leader retrieving the grounds which the BJP lost in recent months. They nurse the view that by and large the people, especially the middle class, still reposes faith in BJP, but it is the arrogant attitude and behaviour of Modi that has alienated them. These leaders also hold the view that Modi and Amit Shah utterly lack political acumen. They depend on use of administration to achieve their goal and this has proved to be counter-productive for the RSS and BJP.
RSS will use Bengal as its launching pad since according to the RSS leaders, TMC leader Mamata Banerjee has proved to be an impeccable and tough leader. The RSS leaders also hold the view that neither the state BJP leaders nor the national ones have the guts to throw an open challenge to Mamata. For obvious reasons, the RSS will begin its campaign after a high-level meeting in Bengal. RSS will prepare the party in Bengal for the next year’s big poll battle.
Though the turncoats ably supported by Amit Shah have been claiming of BJP making an inroad in Bengal, the RSS leadership does not subscribe to it. The party’s vote share fell from 38 per cent in the 2021 Assembly polls to around 24 per cent in the 2023 panchayat polls. Recently, a meeting was held in Delhi where RSS joint general secretary Arun Kumar and senior leader Pradip Joshi took stock of the panchayat poll results in Bengal and pulled up the state leaders for poor performance of the party in the election.
Bengal is going to be the laboratory for the RSS and BJP to experiment with the ideological changes. The RSS also nurses the view that Mamata is going to the main pillar of the opposition in 2024. The RSS and BJP must try to confine her in Bengal. For broadening their base, RSS will focus on identity politics. It would identify more with the Rajbanshis, the Gorkhas, the Matuas and other ST and SC communities. In panchayat election, these groups have just rejected the BJP.
Nevertheless, even before Modi’s derision against INDIA gains popular traction, a significant number of BJP leaders have expressed their reservation. They hold that India means Bharat Mata. They also argue that this may boost the morale of the urban middle class who are blind devotees of Modi, but for common people it would imply a derogatory campaign against the freedom fighters. India is the symbol of the greatest democracy in the world and the Constitution. India means 140 crore Indians, farmers, labourers.
Rahul Gandhi was dismissive of Modi’s attempt to deride the alliance, saying: “Call us whatever you want, Mr Modi. We are INDIA. We will help heal Manipur and wipe the tears of every woman and child. We will bring back love and peace for all her people. We will rebuild the idea of India in Manipur.” It was unfortunate that the name “INDIA” evoked in the Prime Minister’s mind the image of a terror outfit and a company that had enslaved the country.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra asked: “Dear Prime Minister, why such negativity? You have adopted a negative and insulting approach towards INDIA because of political pique. Demonstrating negativity about the name INDIA doesn’t reflect the dignity of your position. People of India want constructive politics.”(IPA Service)