In response to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s “neech rajneeti” (low-level politics) jibe, Narerndra Modi reacted by saying, “I belong to a lower caste of society, that’s why they think my politics is low-level politics.” For the first time Mr Modi put his caste card quite categorically on the table, and he did this not only to get more votes in the last two phases of polling on May 7 and 12, but to send a message to the Brahminic forces within the Bharatiya Janata Party who have no love lost for his claim to the Prime Minister’s job. It is well known that a large number of Brahminic conspirators both within and outside the BJP are working silently to ensure that Mr Modi does not become the Prime Minister.
Ms Vadra’s statement does not refer to Mr Modi’s caste, nor does one assume that she had Mr Modi’s caste background on her mind when she made that statement.
Mr Modi had earlier described her as “daughter like”, because of her age and also experience. To that Ms Vadra had replied, “I am Rajiv Gandhi’s daughter.” She did that to put him in his place. She is definitely a clever person.
However the twist that Mr Modi has given to her comment contains a larger agenda, and this was very clear from his next step, when he asked in a mass rally on May 6 in eastern Uttar Pradesh, “Is it wrong to be born in a lower caste?”
Mr Modi knows that Sonia Gandhi’s family (if we include Mrs Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Ms Vadra and Robert Vadra) is a casteless, multi-cultural one. The Gandhi family has now become inter-religious without tags to any caste. Ever since Indira Gandhi married Feroze Gandhi, a Parsi, Rajiv Gandhi married Mrs Sonia Gandhi, a Catholic Christian, and Priyanka Gandhi married Robert Vadra, a Protestant Christian, their identity got shifted from caste. In which caste can we locate them now?
There is a Hindutva hatred against this salad bowl family and its political control over India. An average Christian in India is more dalit-OBC friendly than an average Hindu. Nobody can say that there is Brahminic blood and culture flowing in the family of Mrs Gandhi because of the genetic heritage of Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru and Kamla Nehru. There is a total disconnect with that Kashmiri-Brahminic genetic heritage. Hence they cannot be called casteist people in any sense.
The only mistake that Rahul Gandhi committed after 2012 Uttar Pradesh elections was that he declared himself a brahmin. He does not seem to know what a brahmin means. Only a brahmin can become a priest in a Hindu temple. If Mr Gandhi wants to take up priesthood in any Hindu temple, he would not be allowed to do so even if he learnt the Agama Shastras. We know the story of Puri Jagannath temple not allowing Indira Gandhi into the shrine. At that time the BJP-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh supported the temple authorities. Thus,
Mr Gandhi’s status in Hinduism today would be exactly like that of Mr Modi. Mr Modi, by virtue of being a lower caste man, cannot become a priest even if he wanted to.
Both Mr Gandhi and Ms Vadra are Parsis from their father’s side and Christians from their mother’s background. But Mr Modi considers himself a strong Hindu, without any rights to priesthood. Quite ironically, Mr Modi’s caste base allows him to become the Prime Minister but not a priest in the Ram temple that he wants to build. The Indian Constitution gives him the right to become the PM, but the Vedas do not give him and his caste people the right to priesthood. In that sense, Mr Gandhi and Ms Vadra are spiritually liberated souls, but not Mr Modi.
Mr Modi’s major problem is not Ms Vadra, but the conservative brahmins within the BJP.
Sushma Swaraj, Murali Manohar Joshi, Nitin Gatkari and many Uttar Pradesh brahmins are actually working to see that Mr Modi does not get many seats in Uttar Pradesh. Most of Uttar Pradesh brahmins consider themselves to be “proper Hindu brahmins”, who believe in Varna dharma. This is one of the reasons why caste culture is so strong in Uttar Pradesh. Any brahmin in India — including Sitaram Yechuri with a life-time commitment to communism, can become a Hindu priest and also the Prime Minister. But no one from Mrs Gandhi’s family or Mr Modi’s family can do so. The RSS’ basic structure operates around that Varna dharma Hinduism.
L.K. Advani’s status is different. His Sindhi-baniya background, which is like that of Mahatma Gandhi, ranks third in the caste hierarchy. For a long time there was a debate within the RSS whether they should allow a non-brahmin to become the party’s prime ministerial candidate after Atal Behari Vajpayee. Mr Advani in 2009 and Mr Modi in 2014 imposed themselves on the party. Now Mr Modi is about to reach his goal. But the internal Brahminic opposition is going to pose a bigger problem than getting votes. That’s why Mr Modi used Ms Vadra’s jibe to start a debate on caste and resolve the opposition to his candidature in his party.
Though with great difficulty the RSS and the BJP declared Mr Modi party’s prime ministerial candidate, the tension whether a shudra should be allowed to lead the nation under the leadership of the Sangh remains unsettled. So Mr Modi used the Amethi occasion to launch an attack on both, his internal and external enemies. When he asked the question, “Is it a crime to be born in a lower caste?” he sought a response from the public — a resounding “No” — so that a message gets sent to all upper castes within his own party and outside, that the masses are with him. It was a master stroke, more to resolve internal opposition than to pick a fight with Ms Vadra.
