Opinion PM Narendra Modi govt must ask itself if it can afford to keep Sadhvi Jyoti in ministry

For six months now, whatever else it may or may not have done, the Modi government has proved to be remarkably adept and inventive in keeping alive the expectation of “change” and “hope” that swept it to power. The PM talks of “Make in India” and “Swachh Bharat”, energetically occupies the “can do” space, disarming political opponents and rivals in the process.

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At the same time, from the very beginning, another chorus has been rising from within the parivar, which articulates hate and prejudice against minorities and which would appear to be distracting from, and even in direct conflict with, the unexceptionable and apparently inclusive message that the prime minister is straining to project as his own. If there was the vicious “love jihad” campaign earlier that could not deliver the expected results in the UP by-polls, there has been the unabashed rhetoric of polarisation used by partymen in poll-bound Delhi and new hunting ground West Bengal, more recently.

So far, Modi has maintained a stoic silence on the other voice and the other message. But as the hate speech becomes louder and bolder, and as it travels from the parivar’s so-called fringe and climbs up to the Union ministry, the PM’s uncharacteristic wordlessness is becoming more conspicuous. It is also giving rise to a question: how does a PM so communicative, and one who is known to tightly centralise and control the message, allow a Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti to so blatantly disrespect the Constitution she has sworn allegiance to and get away with it? In this case, can a mere apology be enough?

It is not enough for the PM to send out a coded reprimand — at a meeting of BJP lawmakers in Parliament on Tuesday, he warned them against speaking out of turn. This is the moment for a forthright response. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti must be asked to resign from the ministry. At best, her continuation as minister is a distraction from Modi’s stated agenda for change. At worst, it suggests that this government’s professions to be religion-neutral provide a cover for the free rein it seems to give to a lengthening line of bigots and chauvinists.