We almost have a case of throwback to BJP’s ties with Muslims and Dalits.
The BJP does not have good experiences with Muslims and Dalits. Its attempts to make friendship with these communities by projecting one or two faces never worked well.
It has mended things a lot vis-a-vis Bengali mindset when it emerged as a party with fighting ability in West Bengal. Of course in 2018 and 2023 it could capture power in Tripura. This north eastern state has overwhelming Bengali presence but nearly 95 per cent from the erstwhile East Pakistan districts such as Sylhet, Comilla and Mynmensingh (now Bangladesh).
The Bengali mindset was pro-Left but this has been altered now.
Working on a good social engineering of upper caste Assamese Hindus, Bengali Hindus and Assam tribals; the BJP captured power in Assam in two polls 2016 and 2021.
However, in southern states too; communities like Malayali and Tamils are also more often skeptical and extra cautious against the BJP.
Now following the resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar as India’s vice president; the BJP may need a neo-social engineering strategy to win Jats.
This agrarian community has dominant presence in Haryana. But in this north Indian state; both the RSS and the BJP focused their social works and politics since 1950s with non Jat sections like Baniyas and Brahmins.
Jats have a sizable presence in Punjab, western Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan too. But the BJP never had any very popular face/leader amongst Jats in these states.
In Delhi too, Jats are important sections and after Madan Lal Khurana had to resign as Delhi Chief Minister owing to Jain diary controversy; the BJP tried its fortune with Sahib Singh Verma.
He had to be removed on the eve of assembly elections in 1998 due to onion crisis. Sahib Singh Verma’s son made it to the Lok Sabha many years later and today Parvesh Verma is a Minister in Delhi.
He defeated Arvind Kejriwal from New Delhi assembly seat but a section of Jats say in private that Pervez Verma deserved to be Delhi Chief Minister.But the BJP banked on a woman face Rekha Gupta – also Baniya -- like Kejriwal himself was.
The Jagdeep Dhankhar episode has brought back into public discourse BJP's inability to penetrate deep into Jat voters' base. One reason also is mercurial style and mannerism of Jats -- a unique blend of candid talk and even bordering on arrogance.
But the fact of the matter is Jats take such ‘arrogance’ as normal and part of day-today manliness. Here is an example.
Of course it is not related to the saffron party. Devi Lal belonged to the Janata Dal. After he made his son Om Prakash Chautala chief minister almost arm twisting the then PM V P Singh: Devi Lal was asked why he did so.
His response was :”Toh kya Bhajan Lal ka chhore ko banata”.
"Then should I have helped Bhajan Lal's son?"
That's a Jat like response.
The community did make history when Jagdeep Dhankhar became vice president of India but his exit - two years before scheduled time - is also historical.
In a lighter moment Dhankhar himself said once – “Anpad Jat ... Para barabar ... Para likkha Jat, Khuda barabar”.
Such oneliners are seldom found among or spoken about any other Indian community.
Now that Prime Minister Narendra Modi got a good riddance with Dhankhar's exit. But the episode is being discussed elsewhere.
In the khaps of Rajasthan, the sugarcane fields of western UP and the chaupals of Haryana, the Dhankhar story is already being retold. An article in 'India Today' says -- " no Delhi spin can recast" the story as is being discussed by Jats.
It is true the BJP has spent a decade trying to engineer a Jat breakthrough. What it has built instead is a fragile edifice of borrowed faces, says the article.
BJP’s experiments with Jats did not work well with Satya Pal Malik and also Chaudhary Birender Singh.
The latter - a former Congressman was made Rural Development and Steel Minister in 2014. Yet the BJP could not harvest electoral gains.
One refrain coming from ground is - ministerial post or power without “Izzat” (respect) as Jats would give their own definition -- is no power.
Hence the community loyalty is yet to come. Satya Pal Malik was J&K Governor and later he flayed both Modi and Amit Shah. Now he is facing an ED case.
This is the ground situation despite the fact that Modi is quite a popular face among Jats too. But when it comes to voting they apply their own wisdom.
Blogger
On Dhankhar's resignation; one Jat trader in north Delhi said – “The BJP is lucky all these happened after Haryana and Delhi elections are over. The BJP is also lucky for the manner Modi behaved like a thinking Jat and acted swiftly. Delay by four hours could have landed the NDA Govt into bigger troubles.
The speed with which Mod acted and remained firm ... even Dhankhar ji was taken aback."
The BJP’s north Indian narrative is built on welfare delivery, urban expansion and non-farm growth. But the Jat politics is inherently linked to land and agriculture.
In Punjab also the BJP tried Sunil Jakhar. But the experiment failed. The message is clear. The chief strategist Amit Shah and Narendra Modi himself will have to examine things in further details whether the Dhankhar episode will deepen Jat community’s ‘distrust’ with the Hindutva party.
Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat is also a Jat. He is 66. But he is of different DNA. He is an Arya Samaj pracharak and served as the principal of a Gurukul in Kurukshetra in Haryana.
Should he be now considered for the Vice President’s post, many wonder.
Incidentally, former Gujarat Governor Kamla Beniwal, who often created problems for Modi as state Chief Minister, also hailed from a Jat family. But the fact of the matter is Dhankhar’s appointment as West Bengal Governor and then his election as Vice President in 2022 meant a lot for BJP’s scheme of things vis-a-vis Jats.
Dhankhar was the first Jat to occupy such high constitutional post and hence his unceremonious exit – whatever the provocations- would not be forgotten so easily.
Wrap up:
The BJP’s bonhomie or love-hate ties with the Muslims are well known. With Dalits, the BJP had tried Bangaru Laxman as its national president. But in 2001 he was caught on camera receiving currency notes (Tehelka tapes).
In 2012 a Delhi court Laxman guilty of accepting money for making recommendations to the Defence Ministry regarding contracts for supply of wares to the Army.
In 2012, the Congress was facing numerous charges of corruption. Hence Laxman’s conviction gave a momentary relief to the grand old party.
Congress spokesman Manish Tewari had immediately attacked the BJP saying:
"The conviction (of Bangaru Laxman) should be seen as a lesson to the BJP that those who live in glass houses should not thrown stones to others”.
In its first reaction, BJP MP Vinay Katiyar had said, "We respect the verdict of the court”.
Ends
No comments:
Post a Comment