A recent nationwide survey by the news website LensOnNews.com has shown that the Congress Party is seen to be corrupt by an overwhelming majority of men-women, youth and elderly, people belonging to all occupations, educational backgrounds and urban-rural citizens etc. Shockingly, there is only one exception to this nationwide adverse perception of the Congress Party; the Muslim community which is defying the nationwide trend and is failing to see the stark reality of a corruption ridden Congress Party.
The Congress Party never had it so good among Muslims. Isn’t the Muslim community affected by the misgovernance, one may wonder. The answer lies elsewhere. Muslims have lapped up every cynical action of the Congress led UPA government at the Centre; be it targeting the Hindu organisations by linking them to Samjhauta Express, Ajmer Sharif Dargah, Malegaon blasts, harassing Narendra Modi regime for alleged encounters against gangsters in Gujarat and mercilessly beating up Baba Ramdev’s supporters recently.
All these aggressive actions are part of a well orchestrated conspiracy (or strategy as one may call it) for the mobilisation of the Muslim community and consolidating it into a vote bank. This is part of the Rahul Gandhi’s grand plan to enhance the Congress Party’s strength and achieve a majority in next parliamentary polls.
Nationwide, there is anger against the Congress Party led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) at the Centre for its misgovernance, unbridled corruption and ever rising prices. Since the days of the Bofors scandal, the Congress never looked so utterly immersed in corruption as today.
Thanks to the misdeeds of the government, the Congress Party isn’t getting anywhere in its grand strategy and the party’s overall image and support has shrunk nationwide. Yet, its strategy of wooing Muslims seems to be working as the party’s appeal and support among Muslims has risen enormously in the past three years.
Apart from unleashing governmental machinery and vendetta against various Hindu organisations, the Congress Party has let loose Digvijay Singh to mount a verbal offensive against everything that Muslims hate. As a part of this strategy, as Rahul Gandhi’s stalking horse and chosen man to lead the mission, Digvijay hobnobs with Muslim community members who would like people to believe that RSS has staged 26/11 attacks, sympathises with the Muslim families of those allegedly involved in Delhi 2008 serial blasts, reverentially refers to Bin Laden as “Osamaji” and calls Baba Ramdev a thug and worse.
The Congress strategy is simple: understand all bizarre theories (for instance, about 26/11 attacks) floating in the community and use a Hindu politician to publicly tell Muslims what they would love to believe but cannot say openly for fear of ridicule. When such bizarre theories come from a Hindu Congressman like Digvijay Singh, it gives them more solace than hearing them from one amongst them. The results of such a horrendous strategy are showing. Appallingly, today, Digvijay Singh is a huge draw among Muslims and has acquired iconic stature even as rest of the country lampoons him.
If ever in the Indian electoral history the Congress Party wooed the Muslim community zealously to consolidate this vote bank, it is happening now. The idea is to totally consolidate the Muslim vote bank behind the Congress Party in the next Lok Sabha polls. See how the Muslim vote meandered about in the last two decades among various claimants and why the Congress feels compelled to win them back.
Post, 1993, in the wake of demolition of the disputed structure in Ayodhya, Muslims felt alienated and deserted the Congress in large numbers. Instantly, PV Narasimha Rao, the then Prime Minister of the Congress government became a hate symbol for the community. As a response, Muslims gravitated towards various non-BJP alternatives in different states: it was the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in Bihar, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh, Janata Dal in Karnataka and Orissa etc.
Though the return of Muslims to the Congress fold began in 1998 as a counter to the ever growing appeal and standing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in national politics, the process was gradual as Muslims continued to entertain some doubts about the Congress Party under a Catholic born Sonia Gandhi. The Congress led UPA government’s overt friendship with the United States as evident from its pursuit of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal halted the wholesale return of Muslims to the Congress fold in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.
But since 2009, the Congress Party has attempted every cynical manoeuver to woo Muslims to its side. The Wikileaks expose about Rahul Gandhi’s comments to the US ambassador that home grown terror from “radicalised Hindu groups” pose a greater danger to India than terror activities of Pakistan sponsored Lashkar-e-Taiba has only sounded like pleasant music to the Muslim ears.
That the Congress Party’s cynical exploits in Muslim appeasement of the worst kind have not met with any disapproval from the political class or the mainstream media which has only made the party even bolder. The BJP’s vehement opposition to the communal violence bill drafted by Sonia Gandhi led National Advisory Council (NAC) is an exception. In the eighties, sustained efforts by the BJP exposed the Congress Party’s vote bank politics and forced it to reverse gear for fear of reprisal from the Hindu community.
One might argue that 2011 is different and same strategies as in eighties won’t work. But if recent Kerala and Assam polls are any indication, Hindus react sharply to the aggressive Muslim mobilisation strategies now as they did before. The Congress party knows it full well as it paid a heavy price in Kerala polls.
Ironically, some parties are resisting targeting of the Congress Party’s cynical communal politics for fear of losing the Muslim vote, while others are living in the elusive hope of broad-basing their appeal by looking more ‘liberal’ and ‘inclusive’.
Take it from me: Muslim psyche in the country has swung heavily towards the Congress. And, if these crass attempts at wooing the Muslim community are not suitably rebuffed, come Lok Sabha elections, the Congress Party will be the sole claimant of the Muslim vote nationwide. It is to be seen, however, whether or not the Congress Party gets away without facing a Hindu backlash for its cynical politics.
(The author is a noted poll analyst and Member, BJP’s National Committee on Electoral Reforms)
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