With its ‘Parivartan Sankalp Yatras’ winding down, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is all set to blow the poll bugle in Rajasthan with a grand finale presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25 September. But despite traversing the state's 200 constituencies, the four faceless Yatras have hardly fulfilled the grand expectations the Saffron brigade had from this ambitious initiative.
In the final phase of the Yatras, the BJP even roped in several central leaders and BJP CMs but with former Rajasthan Chief Minister (CM) Vasundhara Raje staying away, most Yatra events drew a tepid response.
With Raje miffed and party factions sullen, PM Modi will come in for a gala closing of the Yatras in Jaipur. What enthusiasm he generates and how he strives to bridge the cracks in the state BJP will be closely watched. What themes he picks in his address will also be carefully monitored for if he too stresses primarily on communal issues, polarising politics is likely to heat up the campaign trail in the desert state!
The Polarisation Factor
Though party leaders kept hammering on their time-tested polarisation theme, there are more worries than successes as the Yatras saw a re-emergence of the fissures plaguing the state BJP in recent years.
By a quirk of fate, the start of the Parivartan Yatras and remarks by DMK Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin against Sanatan Dharma coincided on 2 September. The next day, Home Minister Amit Shah seized upon the issue while launching the second Parivartan Yatra in South Rajasthan.
Accusing INDIA bloc of 'insulting our culture’, Shah slammed the remarks by Tamil Nadu CM’s son as a reflection of the opposition’s pursuit of "vote bank and appeasement politics.”
Shah also attacked the Gehlot government over communal incidents in the state, arguing that “by practicing appeasement politics, they have created an environment of insecurity across Rajasthan.” Citing incidents like the beheading of Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur, restrictions on Hindu festivals after the Karauli violence, and the prohibition of RSS Path Sanchalan during Vijayadashami, Shah concluded: "Should this riot-organizing Gehlot government, which has made appeasement its policy, be allowed to continue?"
In a nutshell, Shah virtually laid out the polarisation plank that’s been a defining feature of the Yatras.
The Sanatan Row Intensifies
Though less strident while launching the third Yatra in West Rajasthan, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh demanded an apology from the Congress for the 'insult to Sanatan Dharma’. In a bid to sow confusion over the DMK leader’s remarks, Singh insinuated Congress's complicity by asserting “They are attacking Sanatana Dharma and Congress is quiet…Why are Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, or Kharge not saying anything? The INDIA alliance should apologise.”
Worse followed when Union Minister from Rajasthan, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, made more inflammatory comments at a Yatra rally in Barmer. In remarks that went viral on social media, Shekhawat thundered that “anyone who speaks against Sanatan Dharma would have their tongue pulled out and their eyes gouged out.”
Observers say Shekhawat’s comments reflect his desperation at the lukewarm response to the Yatras as he now fancies his chances to be the next CM since Raje has been sidelined by the BJP top brass.
As other leaders were crafting a polarised narrative, Raje went conspicuously missing which became a widely-discussed aspect of the Yatras. Her absence after the formal inauguration reveals how deeply upset Raje is with the party bosses.
The extent of her anger can be gauged from the fact that she skipped Yatra rallies even on her home turf of Jhalawar. Though her loyalists have been demanding that Raje be made the CM face for over two years, she was dropped from two election panels in August, wasn’t made the face of the Yatras, and has no defined role even two months before elections.
All this despite recent surveys reflecting that Raje remains the BJP’s most popular leader in Rajasthan!
Repercussions of Raje’s Withdrawal & a ‘Faceless’ BJP Campaign
With Raje’s absence fuelling speculations, infighting in the Rajasthan BJP erupted ferociously during the Yatras. Raje loyalist and former Speaker of the State Assembly, Kailash Meghwal levied grave corruption charges against Union Law Minister Arjun Meghwal days before the Yatras. He even shot off a letter to PM Modi demanding Arjun’s dismissal from the Union Ministry.
Bang in the middle of the Yatras, the BJP suspended Kailash Meghwal from its primary membership, though he is widely regarded as the BJP’s tallest SC leader in Rajasthan. This resulted in further vitriol from Meghwal about factionalism in the state unit, as he accused former BJP President Satish Poonia, Leader of the Opposition Rajendra Rathore, and other state leaders of running their own camps.
More damagingly, he asserted that an attempt was being made to scuttle the Vasundhara camp. No wonder, Meghwal’s suspension has led to a popular perception that it is linked to his proximity with Raje!
An ugly spat between Union minister Shekhawat and six-time MLA Suryakanta Vyas further reflected the BJP rift. The fracas erupted over Vyas’ praise for CM Ashok Gehlot for granting nearly five crores to renovate a Jodhpur temple. This prompted Shekhawat, no friend of Gehlot, to claim that remarks by Vyas reflected the truism that “old age is often a repetition of childhood.”
Vyas soon retorted that she had “been in politics even before Shekhawat was born.” Interestingly, the elderly woman MLA is also a Raje loyalist, underlining the bitter factionalism in the BJP!
The decision for ‘Faceless Yatras’ was taken to hide BJP’s rift but the wisdom of that move is open to question as infighting has exploded in public. The strategy to keep feuding state leaders away from the limelight and harp on 'collective leadership’ seems to have backfired.
BJP insiders say the Faceless Yatras have left party cadres confused and hardly enthused voters as they have no ‘face’ to connect with. With Raje sidelined despite being the biggest mass leader in Rajasthan BJP, the Faceless Yatras saw little success in mobilising cadres or public support.
Beyond internal wrangling becoming public, the polarised narrative-building by Saffron stalwarts has found few takers if empty chairs and lack of public enthusiasm are any indication.
Also, Union Minister Shekhawat was slapped with an FIR by a local resident who accused him of inciting Hindus by falsely claiming that Ram Navami Yatra in Sirohi faced stone-pelting, hurling of petrol bombs and burning of shops. The case reflects how the Yatras have been a platform to somehow polarise voters and push a divisive agenda.
Communal Strategy Remains the Key for the BJP
It may be pointed out that all the above assertions and arguments were made by some of the senior leaders. But observers across Rajasthan suggest that the tone and tenor of local BJP leaders is often far more offensive when they strive to seek easy votes by deepening religious and communal fault lines.
From acquittals of the accused in the Jaipur Blasts Case of 2008 to Kanhaiya Lal's beheading last year, to communal tensions erupting in Gehlot rule – BJP leaders in the Yatras have sought to keep the communal pot boiling until the elections.
Far from laying out a vision for change and progress, the Parivartan Yatras have turned into a masterclass in the art of polarisation.
Despite concerns about the law of diminishing returns, the Yatras have promoted divisive narratives as polarisation remains a key poll mantra for the Saffron brigade.
After the Karnataka crash, many had opined that the BJP would be wary of playing polarising politics in future elections. But the Yatra discourse suggests that polarisation is all set to be a dominant theme in the Rajasthan battle.
(The author is a veteran journalist and expert on Rajasthan politics. Besides serving as a Resident Editor at NDTV, he has been a Professor of Journalism at the University of Rajasthan in Jaipur. He tweets at @rajanmahan. This is an opinion piece. The views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)