Elections 09: Devious Divisions I

This was in response to a report by IANS, "For next five years the country's reins will be in the hands of A K Antony.  He will be a compromise figure for the Congress and Left parties.:   

I based my assessment on the credo of divisive politics, which has now become the strategy for most political parties.  What the Moguls practiced and the English perfected; `divide & rule`, is the slogan of the politicians. 

Thus originates divisive politics, transforming into vote-bank `isms`- secularism and communalism (includes casteism).  This situation has created a crisis of identity in the Indian voter.  It is difficult to say whether vote-bank politics resulted in the fragmentation of Indian polity based on religion and caste or it was the cause of it. 

`Youthful image`, `admiration for Rahul Gandhi`, `hate speech of Varun Gandhi`, `Advani a bad choice`, `personalised and negative campaign by Modi`, `development plank` etc are nebulous, ill-defined and mostly personality based assessments.  Both UPA and NDA played divisive politics nurturing vote-bank secularism & vote-bank communalism.  The NDA, especially BJP, did it most brazenly and audaciously, and lost. 
The UPA, especially the Congress, did it subtly and won!

Manmohan's 78-member council of ministers finalised  

I must sound a note of caution that the conclusions of my analysis destroy two long-standing myths i.e. (1) Wisdom and the propensity of the Indian voter to know what is good for the country and (2) the Indian politician has national interest at heart.  To put it bluntly, Indian democracy will mature only if the gullible Indian public becomes aware of the games that our politicians play.
 
There was a decrease in BJP vote share of 3.32 percent to about 18.  It lost only 22 seats (14 %) from 148 in 2004.  The Congress vote share was 30 %, an increase of only 1.99 percent over 2004.  The combined vote share of the two main national parties was 48.69 %, which decreased by only 1.33 percent.   Equations, therefore, have remained largely the same; small loss for the BJP in the vote-share and seats and disproportionate gains to the Congress vis-à-vis its vote share.  There is no revolutionary change. 

Verdict 2009: The cabinet buddies

Our political parties have always used devious `means` to acquire power under the guise of doing good to the nation.  They have no regrets if it divides the country in the bargain.  If the parties have to field criminals to access their vote banks, then too there are no regrets. 

Publicly candidates stress on `development` but one-on-one, they acknowledge that their survival depends primarily on `caste equations`, secondarily on `religious inclinations` and lastly on party politics.  As for `development`, Daily Saka from Pune reported unusual similarities between the 2004 and 2009 manifestos of the winning candidate! 

The political parties take advantage of lack of political awareness of the common voter, and correctly assess where the weakness of the Indian voter lies.  Generally, Indians are unaware of the nuances of politics and games that the politicians play.  Even educated Indians are not aware of Chinese manipulations to isolate India and that, Advani as Home Minister, instead of taking concrete steps against illegal immigration from Bangladesh, mooted giving work permits to the unwanted aliens! 

These are sample examples; there are many more in all spheres.

Lighter moments of swearing-in ceremony

The UPA directed its energies to woo the minority communities (especially the Muslims and the Christians) and its allies exploited caste loyalties.  Both the UPA, led by the Congress, and the BJP-led NDA had precipitated a situation where the Congress mainly projected itself as looking after the interests of the minority communities against the `atrocities` committed by the BJP. 

Towards galvanising this crisis of identity, the UPA established the Sachar Commission, gave state-level scholarships to minorities identified at the national-level (for Muslims, Christians, Parsis and Sikhs excluding Hindus and Jains even when in minority in certain states), extended reservations to Muslims, increased the Haj subsidy, granted subsidy to Christians visiting Bethlehem, etc.
 
During 2005-06, India received Rs 7,877 Crores as foreign donations, up from Rs 5,105 crore in 2003-04.  The highest foreign donors were Gospel Fellowship Trust USA (Rs 229 Crores), Gospel for Asia (Rs 137 Crores), Foundation Vincent E Ferrer, Spain (Rs 104.23 Crores) and Christian Aid, UK (Rs 80.16 Crores). 
World Vision (Rs 256 crore), Caritas India (Rs 193 crore), Rural Development Trust Andhra Pradesh (Rs 127 crore), Churches Auxiliary for Social Action (Rs 95.88 crores) and Gospel For Asia (Rs 58.29 crore) received fat amounts. 

Know your ministers

There is no answer to the end-use of these funds.  Most of these `reforms` to appease the minorities appear to violate the provisions of the Constitution because of discrimination on religious grounds.

The worst political ploy was to encourage Maharashtra Navnirman Sena to divide the vote bank of Shiv Sena, because of which the Congress literally wiped out Shiv Sena and BJP from Mumbai, Nashik and Pune, in spite of losing 4 % of its vote share. 

Elections 09: Complete coverage

The nation had to pay heavily in terms of destroying the inclusive Indian culture and unity.  The Congress `high command`, which watched merrily when the MNS beat up and killed `North` Indians in Mumbai and Nashik, engineered this strategy. 

Devious divisions, Part II

The author, who was commissioned in the Bombay Sappers, Corps of Engineers, Indian Army in June 1954, has held several critical military and civilian positions. He is a Founder Member, Initiative for Peace & Disarmament (INPAD).

Courtesy Indian Initiative for Arms Control and Disarmament, Pune

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