Election secularism

At a Samarasata rally in Rampur, Venkaiah Naidu promised Muslims ministerial berths, a quota of their own, other sops, the mosque, everythin...

At a Samarasata rally in Rampur, Venkaiah Naidu promised Muslims ministerial berths, a quota of their own, other sops, the mosque, everything. So what should we make of Naidu8217;s sudden largesse? The options are: One, the BJP chief took the title of the rally terribly seriously 8212; 8216;samarasata8217; translates as social harmony. Two, Naidu had his eye on the coming round of assembly polls followed by general elections next year. Three, this is the dawn of a more generous politics. Well. While that last option opens up the most captivating possibilities, there doesn8217;t seem much use arguing over the fact that it is the least probable. Clearly, with elections drawing closer every day, the BJP is donning its battle fatigues.

But this is a piquant moment. On the one hand, it appears that the Congress has decided to fight the BJP by looking more like the BJP. The effort seems to be to poach on the saffron constituency by appearing more 8220;Hindu8221; 8212; MP Chief Minister Digvijay Singh8217;s soft Hindutva is a notable case in point. The BJP, meanwhile, may be trying out the Congress8217;s erstwhile idiom for size. The tone and tenor of Naidu8217;s speech, and its content, belonged to a discourse the BJP has long charged the Congress with 8212; of 8220;appeasement8221;, of 8220;vote-bank politics8221;. Naidu, of course, took it to a new level of crudity, openly holding out the prospect of more ministerial berths for Muslims in lieu of the community8217;s electoral support.

Even so, Naidu may well be feeling that he said more at Rampur than he should have. After all, there are no indications that his party or his parivar will support all the promises he made, particularly the one on the mosque. A la Narasimha Rao, Naidu has suggested the construction of a mosque alongside the Ram temple at Ayodhya. Surely Naidu knows that Vinay Katiyar has been exhorting the people to revive the spirit of 1991 and raising all the controversial issues 8212; including Article 370, common civil code, and family planning in Muslims 8212; as he tours Uttar Pradesh. Surely he is aware that the VHP8217;s trishul diksha ceremonies continue apace. Naidu is right. Muslims should stop fearing the BJP. But for that his party must demonstrate that it is willing to do more than just say the right things and not just at election time.