Neither saffron nor secular

It is not the BJP which is extolling the virtues of Hindutva, or claiming that the majority of Hindus are with them, or that they ever emphasised Hindutva above governance, or that Godhra and its aftermath were more important factors than their past achievements. Everything said by the media and the Opposition to this effect can either be put down to sheer speculation or wishful thinking.

As an NDA ally, it was particularly heartening, necessary and important that Pramod Mahajan and others said on the very day of their victory in Gujarat that they would not deviate from the agenda of the NDA and that they were neither going to depend heavily on the VHP nor revert to Hindutva in the elections coming up in various states. Why then waste time harping on what the so-called secular camp call laboratory experimentation, immoral campaigns and blatant communalisation just to keep up the tension for the minorities?

The experience of the Samata Party in Gujarat tells its own tale. The party had worked from the time of rioting in Gujarat to see that no Muslim or Hindu in difficulty who called upon it for help was left unattended. The party was at the forefront in organising a peace march of over five thousand people in April, which was attended by leaders of all religions and all parties except the Communists. This writer is witness to the fact that elderly and young Muslims and Hindus joined the rally en route spontaneously and stayed till the end where Narendra Modi received it and spoke from the dais asking for unity among all the people of Gujarat. All television networks, including the BBC, were witness to this.

Since then, Gujarat experienced the peaceful passage of Ram Navami, Muharram, Id, Dussehra, Diwali; and the holding of panchayat elections, CBSE examinations, marriages and all the events that take place in a perfectly normal and harmonious society. There were no curfews, no special police forces called out of any ill will among Muslims and Hindus in most areas. The latter is the most important factor to remember and digest, and it sums up the atmosphere in which the Samata Party put up and campaigned for its candidates in the elections.

Significantly, the results indicated that despite the Muslims voting almost en bloc for the Congress, the Hindus did not vote en bloc for the BJP but voted for other parties too. Under these circumstances, can the Hindus be termed as communalised? It would be extremely cavalier and offensive to say so.

The Samata Party had preferred a situation in which there was a seat adjustment between it and the BJP. It made no secret of this fact since it does not feel the need to wear its secular credentials on its sleeve and because it felt that a cementing of the NDA at state-levels was beneficial to the NDA at the Centre. The JD(U) had the same expectations. The BJP at the state level decided otherwise since it did not want to appear weak by seeking the help of allies when it had never done so in Gujarat before. The NCP and the Samajwadi Party had the same expectations from the Congress Party but were similarly refused. Only the Communist parties got the crumbs of a seat each from the Congress, which did not even care to campaign for them. Both lost their deposits.

The Samata Party candidate contesting from Maliya polled 15,431 (14.85%) votes, which contributed to the defeat of the BJP candidate. If it had been a Hindu versus Muslim situation, the BJP candidate would have won the seat. The Samata Party had fielded two Muslim candidates out of a total of 24, i.e. 10%,, whereas the Congress had fielded four Muslims out of 180 candidates, i.e. 2%, and despite mass voting for the Congress by Muslims, the Samata Party candidate in Mandvi, Juneja Mohamad Siddiq Ismail, polled 2,082 votes and contributed to the defeat of the BJP. Its candidate, Noida Wali Mamad, polled 1,017 votes in Jodia where the sitting Congress MLA lost.

In some cases, the BJP won with very narrow margins with Samata making the crucial difference as in Morvi, Talala and Talaja. The Samata Party did not win any seat since the fight was essentially between the BJP and the Congress as it has always been in Gujarat. The JD(U) fielded 29 candidates and won two seats against the four it had held earlier despite the polarisation between the parties. Independents gathered 8% of the vote.

The end results show that the voter in Gujarat was not under the influence of extreme saffron forces but were definitely unimpressed by Sonia Gandhi’s version of nationalism and secularism. As an astute unaffiliated friend said, it was essentially not the victory of Hindutva but the defeat of the Congress Party.

(The writer is a Samata Party leader)