The decisive and emphatic electoral verdict in the Karnataka Assembly election underscores the simple fact that politics and governance matter in this country and that attempts to introduce specious narratives to cover up failures fall flat in front of an intelligent electorate.
The Congress, for a change, faced the election after rediscovering its place in Indian polity as a centrist, liberal and unadulterated secular force. And the BJP did everything possible to ensure that the Congress remained so. Of late, the ruling party in one of the most happening states in India had on top of its agenda ways to disturb the lives of a section of people and use it to polarise society. The hijab, halal and the reservation for Muslims were such topics the BJP thought will help it coast to victory in the elections.
This did not work because of two reasons. The state government which was known for its ill-governance and corrupt practices carried little conviction with even its own supporters, leave alone the larger public. And the Congress, which has ceased to represent marginal sections and minorities at the national level, however, chose to return to its traditional role and took an unwavering, unequivocal, and even aggressive position on these issues. The local leadership of the party had the nerve and grasp of the grassroots to take the bull by its horns and announced that it will restore the Muslim reservation; it even went one step ahead and declared that it will ban the extremist outfit of the Hindutva variety. Four-fifths of the Karnataka electorate is made up of the majority community and they voted for the Congress agenda and proved the polarisers wrong.
It is ironic that the BJP government at the Centre had banned the Popular Front of India and hence the Islamist outfit was not available to muddy the waters for the saffron camp to benefit from the issue of cancellation of reservation. Those people who were affected by the decision took the constitutional and legal route to find a remedy instead of hitting the streets.
The Sangh Parivar has for some time now successfully peddled the narrative that the “Hindu is in danger” and the BJP has reaped rich electoral benefits. But the Karnataka verdict indicates that such a narrative comes with the law of diminishing returns and that at some point in time, it will eat into the investment itself. Such narratives could keep the focus off people’s lives and thrive in fictional realms; they cannot survive in the world of realpolitik.
Spin doctors have some real good lessons to learn from Karnataka. From linking Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s reference to the weakening of Indian democracy to the promise to ban Bajrang Dal, they tried their best to give extremely unethical and possibly communal interpretations to every announcement. It is sad that Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself led such efforts. But the electorate had a better understanding of the real issues, including corruption, and rejected the bait.
The Congress has lost forever in several states where it was in competition with other centrist, secular forces but it has outshone the Janata Dal (Secular) in Karnataka into insignificance and ensured its own survival. It is now left to the grand old party to pick the right cues and see if it can replicate this performance in other states. The BJP’s challenge now is to stand the temptation to undermine popular verdicts and governments. One can only hope that the Congress and the BJP recognise their respective roles and perform them.
