For those who believe elections in India are about roti, kapda, makaan, here is a reminder that they are wrong. Sanjay Patil, the Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker from Belagavi (Rural), who has been given the ticket by the party again this time, is emphatic that the May 12 election is about Hindu and Muslim issues. A video of the communal poison that he reportedly dished out during the campaign is doing the rounds. A first information report has been lodged against him.
“I will hold my heart and proudly tell you, this is our Bharat nation, this is our Hindu nation, Lord Ram’s birthplace,” Patil is heard saying in Kannada. “In Ayodhya, we have to build a Ram temple and I am ready to do anything for that. Some people will tell they will build the temple and ask for votes but they will build a masjid instead. This election is between Hindus and Muslims. Be it constructing Babri Masjid, celebrating Tipu Jayanti, let the Congress do all this. You wanted Shivaji Maharaj, you wanted to pray to Goddess Lakshmi in the temple, you have to vote for BJP only, not any other party.”
Patil’s intention was to push the Congress into the Muslim camp and he seemed to have succeeded in his attempt. The Congress has criticised his communal pitch and this will now be used by Patil to paint his political rival as anti-Hindu.
But Patil is not an aberration, he is the result of the divisive politics that has been playing out in Karnataka for many months now. Both parties are equally guilty of stoking the communal pot with an eye on the EVM. In this election, more than in any poll before this, the template of polarisation has been put to good use in Karnataka.
The Congress tried to curry favour with the minority community by issuing three circulars to the district police chiefs in December-January, asking for details of cases filed against members of the minority communities in the course of communal disturbances in the last five years. In effect, it saw crime, minor or major, through the prism of the religion of the accused.
The BJP’s social media cell slammed the Congress for minority appeasement and justifiably so. It used hashtags of #CongKillsHindus, forcing the government to amend the circular to include “all innocent”.
But the labelling did not stop there. This was followed up with the BJP using the provocative hashtag of “Jehadi CM” for Siddaramaiah.
The intention was to build up on the momentum the BJP thinks it gained when it accused the Congress of being bed-fellows with the Popular Front of India. The PFI, which is active in both Kerala and coastal Karnataka, has been accused of having terror links by the National Investigation Agency and this in turn, has been used by the BJP to label the Congress of being in league with an anti-national outfit. On several occasions, BJP leaders have challenged Siddaramaiah to ban PFI in Karnataka.
The BJP is not apologetic about this line of attack. Balaji Srinivas, who heads the party’s social media cell says, “It is very clear that this government is anti-Hindu, pro-Jehadi, pro-organisations like PFI. That is what came up on Twitter as well.”
The Congress has not covered itself with glory either. In March, the Siddaramaiah government gave media kits worth Rs 61,750 each only to accredited journalists from the minority community. The kit included a laptop, camera and a memory card. The move was seen as divisive and in bad taste.
In this narrative of painting the CM as pro-Muslim, Tipu Sultan has played a central part. With the Congress government celebrating Tipu Jayanti, the focus has been on emphasising that Siddaramaiah indulges in minority appeasement.
“See the contradiction in Congress position. Siddaramaiah says he believes in Kannadiga pride. But he spends government money to celebrate Tipu Jayanti, who was anti-Kannadiga. He had Persian as the language of his administration,” says Hemantha Kumar, political analyst.
The Congress defends its decision to celebrate Tipu Jayanti, arguing he was a brave son of Mysuru state who took on the British. But the party realises the perils of the branding the BJP is giving it and the impact of the messaging.
“Words like jehadi, terrorist, anti-social elements from a certain community – all of them resonate with a base primal instinct of people in society and especially in regions that are volatile, it tends to have an explosive reaction. Words like that create an us versus them mentality,” says Aishwarya Mahadev, Congress spokesperson.
Sanjay Patil who has a history of creating controversy was in the news last year when he was heard threatening a police officer who was trying to maintain order during a motorcycle rally. But his latest rhetoric deserves to be called out. Actor Prakash Raj, whose anti-BJP position is well known, has slammed Patil for spitting “communal hatred”, asking on Twitter if citizens of this country should not oppose such intentions, narratives and communal politics.
The Sanjay Patil case is an opportunity for the Election Commission to show it is not a toothless body.
Newslaundry is a reader-supported, ad-free, independent news outlet based out of New Delhi. Support their journalism, here.
