Yogi, civil code in BJP last dash; Congress says desperation

Apart from promising to bring in a uniform civil code if voted back to power – at a time when a row over wearing of hijab by students to class in Karnataka is brewing — Dhami also repeated the BJP’s refrain that a Congress government would set up a Muslim University in the state.

Congress organisation general secretary Mathura Dutt Joshi said the BJP’s frustration was growing, and with “no work to show”, it was trying such “desperate” measures. Joshi said even Adityanath’s speeches, at Tehri and Kotdwar, didn’t make any waves. The UP CM talked of Kanwariyas “freely taking out Kanwar Yatra” under his government, and accused the Congress of “disrespecting” Hindus. “If in Devbhoomi (Uttarakhand), someone does not know the definition of Hindu, that party should not have the right to be in power,” Adityanath said.

Incidentally, he also let it slip that a rally by him in Uttarakhand, in the midst of the bitter UP election, was a last-minute plan.

Apart from the relief that the BJP unveiled both the uniform civil code and Adityanath perhaps too late, the Congress believes it also dodged a bullet by refusing to engage with the BJP on such issues throughout the campaign. Party leaders said there were strict instructions to avoid any controversial statements, and after the BJP’s uniform civil code promise, to not give any reactions to it.

Among the issues it skirted was the Dharma Sansad held in December last year in Haridwar, where hate speeches were made. The BJP government was accused of dragging its feet on the matter, but the Congress did not make it an issue.

Earlier this month, the party immediately moved the Election Commission to ensure a warning to the Uttarakhand BJP after the party’s Twitter handle reportedly shared a morphed photo of former chief minister Harish Rawat depicted as a Muslim cleric.

The Congress was acting on cues it picked up in 2017. At the time, the BJP had brought in Adityanath — not yet the UP CM but influential due to his Uttarakhand roots and being head of the Gorakhnath Mutt — to campaign in the final stretch in districts like Udham Singh Nagar, Haridwar, Dehradun. While the BJP had swept Uttarakhand amidst a Modi wave, the Congress believes Adityanath hurt it badly in these areas, and was a factor in Harish Rawat’s defeat from both Kichha (Udham Singh Nagar) and Haridwar Rural seats.

Congress leaders say Adityanath could have benefited the BJP again this time if his events had been planned in areas like Chamoli, Uttarkashi, Badrinath, Kedarnath, or Srinagar — places close to the Modi government’s pet Chardham project. Apart from the religious association, the BJP has been propagating it as part of its big development push for the state, with fears of the ecological impact not really cutting any ice among voters.

Said a senior Congress leader: “The most important thing is that the party this time gave no opportunity to the BJP to catch onto any issue. This was our plan from the very start. All leaders and spokespersons were given strict instructions to not speak anything controversial. I remember before his visit to the state, senior leader Digvijaya Singh was also given clear instructions not to give the BJP any chance of polarisation.”

The leader added that there was apprehension that the BJP’s bogey of Muslim University would turn away some voters, particularly given how the BJP pushed it, with even Prime Minister Narendra Modi raising it in his speech. “But, we refused to talk much and clearly asked the BJP to show if there was such a promise in our manifesto. People soon realised that this was a baseless allegation.”

He said the BJP tried other allegations as well, like claiming Harish Rawat had announced a holiday on Friday for namaz. In an interview to The Indian Express, Rawat had said it was completely out of the question, and “no government could support such a thing”, nor was there a demand for it.

As part of the same strategy, Congress sources said, it avoided rallies by its Muslim leaders in the state. The state unit advised against events planned for Congress minority department chairperson and Urdu poet Imran “Pratapgarhi” and senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad in some seats of Dehradun and Haridwar. “We ensured that the speeches of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi were also very balanced,” said a party leader.

Denying charges of polarisation, BJP spokesperson Shadab Shams said it was the Congress that had started it with its “plans for a Muslim University” and was now playing the “victim card”, and that the BJP was forced to react, even if it was at the last moment.

“As far as the uniform civil code is concerned, along with Ram Mandir and Article 370, it has always been an electoral issue for us… There is nothing wrong with bringing a uniform civil code to the state to secure its beauty and culture.”