election opinion Exactly 33 years ago, on November 2, the incident of firing on unarmed Kar Sevaks in Ayodhya marked a turning point in Indian politics. Just as the firing of Jallianwala Bagh marked a turning point in India’s freedom struggle. And now Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple is going to become a major issue in the 2024 elections.
Brutal firing laid the foundation
The foundation of this topic was the brutal firing of November 2, 1990, which was carried out by the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mulayam Singh Yadav. The unarmed Kar Sevaks were brutally gunned down by the police at point-blank range. The most touching picture was of two young boys, the Kothari brothers. That horrific scene of being shot in the head would have shaken anyone.
Whatever one may say, that firing was not ordered by Mulayam Singh but by the DGP. But the truth is that such a big decision, due to which Mulayam Singh’s ‘Janata Dal’ lost the Uttar Pradesh elections, could not have been taken by any police officer. Even if we want to believe for once that perhaps the state police chief might have taken this decision, it is not possible for us to believe it. Mulayam Singh Yadav himself had said that he had ordered the firing.
There was no polarization then like today
There is a lot of difference between that time and today’s time. At that time there was no polarization like today. In those days, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Yadav used to openly play the Muslim-Yadav card, and became successful. It is true that the Muslim candidates who stood on the ticket of Mulayam Singh’s ‘Janata Dal’ got less votes from the Yadavs, but still the Yadav candidates of ‘Janata Dal’ got a lot of Muslim votes. Meaning overall the formula was effective.
change came gradually
Whenever any major incident like 2nd November happened, the reaction of Hindu society was serious. But due to being divided on caste lines, Hindu society did not become a permanent pole. But slowly change was coming. It is always difficult to understand the thoughts of people. People do not express their feelings easily. But people’s opinion can be measured on the ground, especially through vote percentage.
BJP got political benefit from Hindu polarization
It was clear from the vote counting that when and to what extent the ‘Bharatiya Janata Party’ got the political benefit of Hindu polarization. In the month of laying the foundation stone of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya, i.e. in November 1989, when the Lok Sabha elections were held, BJP’s seats increased from 2 to 89. Then after the firing on November 2, 1990, BJP’s seats increased to 119 in the 1991 Lok Sabha elections. In the Lok Sabha elections held after the Babri demolition in 1992, i.e. in 1996, the BJP’s seats increased to 163, and the BJP formed a 13-day government. Polarization increased, and BJP also increased. BJP got 182 seats in the 1998 Lok Sabha elections. NDA government was formed for 13 months. The next year, after the Kargil war, BJP again formed the NDA government, and ruled it for five years. Hindu polarization had weakened under the leadership of Atal ji, but the ultimate result of polarization on the basis of nationalism due to the Kargil war was the same. In the 1999 elections, seats neither increased nor decreased. The number remained 182. That is, if Kargil war had not happened, Atal ji would have lost the elections. After ruling the government for five years, BJP lost the 2004 elections due to lack of polarization. Sonia-Manmohan’s government lasted for ten years. In 2014, under the leadership of Narendra Modi, there was such a strong polarization of Hindu-nationalist votes that for the first time BJP got an absolute majority. Narendra Modi’s personality and leadership kept improving. The existence of BJP also started shining.
It was easy for any political analyst to understand in theory what Narendra Modi achieved. But the courage, commitment and transparency required to achieve the goal in practice were not found before the leadership of Narendra Modi. When it is found, the result is in front of everyone. And will come to the fore once again in the Lok Sabha elections next year.
(The author of this story, Manoj Raghuvanshi, is a senior journalist)
Jewelery shop openly looted on Karva Chauth in Delhi’s Prem Nagar.
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