Awaaz - South Asia Watch News
News and information provided in conjunction with South Asia Citizens Wire and other sources
Posts do not necessarily reflect the views of Awaaz
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Posted by: Awaaz / 10/19/2004 10:57:00 AMInter Press Service, October 18, 2004
INDIA: Congress Win in Maharashtra Seen as Triumph for Secularism
Analysis - By Ranjit Devraj
NEW DELHI, Oct 18 (IPS) - The resounding
electoral victory of Congress and its secular
allies in the provincial elections in western
Maharashtra state is being seen as an endorsement
of the party's brand of politics that champions
the poor - one that saw it return to national
power in May after an eight-year hiatus.
It also provides confirmation that India's
electorate is fed up of the communal politics of
the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which
was unseated from power in a shock electoral
defeat - first in the May general elections and
now in Maharashtra, the country's industrially
most advanced state.
The Congress and its main ally the National
Congress Party (NCP) and other groups that
together put up a secular front secured 141 seats
in the 288-member Maharashtra assembly while the
BJP and its close ally, Shiv Sena (Shiva's Army),
mustered just a total of 117.
''Over the last two years there has been a
groundswell of opinion against the kind of
politics being played out in Gujarat (state
adjoining Maharashtra),'' said Shabnam Hashmi, a
well-known human rights activist and leader of
the ANHAD (Open Platform), in an interview with
IPS on Monday.
Joining hands with some 50 other groups ANHAD
campaigned aggressively across Maharashtra
distributing leaflets and urging people to vote
for secular parties. They also wanted them to
reject the BJP and Shiv Sena.
''The response we got was tremendous with people
saying that they did not want communal politics
to spread from Gujarat into Maharashtra,'' said
Hashmi.
Among the star campaigners for the BJP in
Maharashtra was Gujarat's Chief Minister Narendra
Modi who has been indicted by well-known rights
groups for overseeing the anti-Muslim pogrom that
raged for several months through his state in
2002 leaving more than 2,000 people dead.
The shock defeat of the BJP and its right-wing
allies in the May general elections was widely
attributed to the failure of its top leadership,
led by then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee,
to effectively intervene in the violence and
discipline Modi.
The BJP's demise from power politics was also
attributed to the pro-rich policies of the
Vajpayee government that tried to sell the idea
of a ''Shining India'' campaign, which not only
failed to capture the imagination of the
country's poverty-stricken masses but also
enraged them.
Far from learning lessons from the debacle, the
BJP set about trying to win the elections in
Maharashtra by trying to rake up pro-Hindu
sentiments over imagined insults to the memory of
Veer Savarkar.
Savarkar took part in India's anti-colonial
struggle against British rule but wanted the
country to become a Hindu state.
But the Congress and its allies retaliated, and
it seems successfully, by airing serious
allegations that Savarkar was part of the
conspiracy to murder Mahatma Gandhi. They also
blamed him for the historical events that led to
the creation of Pakistan from a larger India in
1947.
''We are disappointed with the results of the
Maharashtra elections - we had hoped for a
victory in that state,'' said BJP's national
president Venkiah Naidu conceding defeat at a
press conference on Monday.
Naidu also announced his resignation and the
handing over of the reins of the party to Lal
Krishna Advani best known for riding motorised
chariots across the country and whipping up a
pro-Hindu fervor that resulted in the 1992
demolition of the 17th century Babri Masjid
mosque in Ayodhya in northern Uttar Pradesh state.
The demolition of the Babri Masjid led to
communal riots across the country between India's
Hindu majority and Muslims who form 14 percent of
the country's billion plus population.
Most affected by the new polarisation was the
state of Maharashtra and its bustling capital of
Mumbai on the Arabian sea, known for its
cosmopolitan outlook and its prosperous Muslim
merchants and businessmen.
Mumbai is also known for its textile mills -
dating back to the British colonial era - which
closed down as a result of economic
restructuring. These mills are now being rapidly
converted into shopping malls and business
centers catering to the newly rich elites, while
unemployed textile workers are left to build
shacks outside their high walls in the hope of
receiving compensation.
Earlier this year, in January, Mumbai played host
to the World Social Forum (WSF) -- the first time
it was held outside its original home of Porto
Allegre in Brazil - where the problems of
globalisation and the widening disparity of
income between the rich and poor were aired and
discussed.
On taking office in May, India's new Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh, a former World Bank
economist promised that while he would stick with
India's commitment to globalisation, he would
ensure that it has a human face to it - a key
demand made by activists at the Mumbai WSF.
The Congress Party's return to power in New Delhi
was the result of a new partnership it built with
India's communist parties with the express
purpose of defeating the BJP and its pro-Hindu
politics. The partnership has worked well once
again in Maharashtra.
''There is no doubt that the Congress alliance's
triumph in the 14th general election and the
consequent adoption of the National Common
Minimum Programme sent out a positive message to
voters in Maharashtra,'' commented the respected
'Hindu' newspaper in an editorial on Monday.
The 'Hindu' attributed the win in Maharashtra to
the fact that Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi
personally campaigned in the elections and
concentrated on livelihood issues.
''The huge crowds at Mrs. Gandhi's rallies (in
Maharashtra) suggested that she had become
something of a cult figure following her
rejection of the prime minister's post,'' the
'Hindu' editorial said referring to her
unexpected renunciation of the top job after
leading her party to its historic victory in May.
Said Hashmi: ''Everywhere we went in Maharashtra
we found people longing for a return to the
secular and egalitarian ideals on which this
country was founded and the best expression of
that is visible in the way they voted.''
(END/2004)
Back to top of page
About Awaaz
Projects and Campaigns
Latest News
Press and Media Reports
Resources and Links
Contact Awaaz
Supporting Organizations
Frequently Asked Questions
Archives
12/26/1999 - 01/01/2000 05/18/2003 - 05/24/2003 06/01/2003 - 06/07/2003 06/08/2003 - 06/14/2003 06/15/2003 - 06/21/2003 06/22/2003 - 06/28/2003 06/29/2003 - 07/05/2003 07/06/2003 - 07/12/2003 08/10/2003 - 08/16/2003 08/17/2003 - 08/23/2003 08/24/2003 - 08/30/2003 08/31/2003 - 09/06/2003 09/14/2003 - 09/20/2003 09/21/2003 - 09/27/2003 09/28/2003 - 10/04/2003 11/09/2003 - 11/15/2003 11/23/2003 - 11/29/2003 12/07/2003 - 12/13/2003 01/04/2004 - 01/10/2004 02/29/2004 - 03/06/2004 04/04/2004 - 04/10/2004 06/27/2004 - 07/03/2004 07/18/2004 - 07/24/2004 07/25/2004 - 07/31/2004 08/08/2004 - 08/14/2004 08/15/2004 - 08/21/2004 09/05/2004 - 09/11/2004 09/19/2004 - 09/25/2004 09/26/2004 - 10/02/2004 10/17/2004 - 10/23/2004 10/24/2004 - 10/30/2004 11/14/2004 - 11/20/2004 11/21/2004 - 11/27/2004 11/28/2004 - 12/04/2004 12/05/2004 - 12/11/2004 12/12/2004 - 12/18/2004 12/19/2004 - 12/25/2004 01/02/2005 - 01/08/2005 01/09/2005 - 01/15/2005 01/16/2005 - 01/22/2005 01/23/2005 - 01/29/2005 01/30/2005 - 02/05/2005 06/05/2005 - 06/11/2005 06/12/2005 - 06/18/2005 07/03/2005 - 07/09/2005 07/10/2005 - 07/16/2005 07/17/2005 - 07/23/2005 07/24/2005 - 07/30/2005 07/31/2005 - 08/06/2005 08/07/2005 - 08/13/2005 02/05/2006 - 02/11/2006 03/19/2006 - 03/25/2006 04/16/2006 - 04/22/2006 04/23/2006 - 04/29/2006 04/30/2006 - 05/06/2006 05/07/2006 - 05/13/2006 05/14/2006 - 05/20/2006 05/21/2006 - 05/27/2006 05/28/2006 - 06/03/2006
