Anupkumar Arun Hiwale-
(Anupkumar Arun Hiwale is a theological and sociological scholar specializing in Indian politics, offering insightful analyses and proposing strategies for peacemaking. The views expressed in this article are his own)
Now that India’s longest election is almost over. Let’s see what would happen on June 4.
In this article, I will discuss a few reasons why the Election Commission is likely to miss the given timeline and where India will be heading upon the declaration of the results.
The results of the 2024 general election, a crucial event in Indian political history, are eagerly anticipated on June 4th. However, it is now apparent that India’s Election Commission (EC) is likely to miss the June 4th deadline. In my opinion, several factors contribute to this anticipated delay:
First, the last voting day is June 1st, leaving the EC with a tight timeframe to complete the counting and verification processes. Given the time the EC has taken for previous reporting, therefore, it is questionable whether the results from June 1st can possibly be ready by June 4th.
Secondly, the EC’s recent activities have been unconventional, further complicating the timely release of results. There have been complaints regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speeches. Instead of addressing these complaints directly, the EC advised the BJP to correct its “star” campaigners. This raises concerns about the EC’s impartiality, as it failed to issue a direct notice to Narendra Modi. Consequently, it would not be an overestimation that the BJP may influence the EC’s ability to release the results on June 4th if the outcomes of the results are not satisfactory to the BJP (Do I mean that BJP RSS high commands would know the results before they are made public? I guess, it may happen given the way EC is working).
Lastly, the BJP and RSS have implemented strategic moves, such as leveraging the “370 card” and the “Shri Ram Temple card,” and had projected internal discord to sway voter perception. Despite these tactics, Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra and Naya Yatra have effectively united India’s diverse cultural spirit, leading to a high voter turnout. This turnout presents additional challenges for the EC in declaring the results promptly.
In my opinion, the BJP and RSS may have misjudged the electorate’s response. Reports suggest that if the EC is indeed working on the “Charso-Paar” project, it would face significant challenges in finalizing the results. Therefore, on June 4th, India will likely remain in the dark about its next Prime Minister.
Nevertheless, after the results, a question must be asked: How close has India come to the iceberg that could hit and destroy the beautiful fabric of diversity? In answer to this, I want to give the BJP and RSS some bad news. The fabric of India is not breakable, and no size of the iceberg can tear it into pieces.
However, the most effective instrument of the BJP RSS, also known on social media as the “Andh-Bhakts,” has certainly scratched the surface and caused some bloody wounds on the face of India’s diverse culture. Nevertheless, these instruments of the BJP and RSS have realized that they have reached the limit of their ability to hurt, and the “Andh-Bhakts” cannot go any deeper into hurting India than their masters are forcing them to do.
India must be made aware that the idea of Hindu-India and Muslim-Pakistan was conceived during the British Raj. The Indian National Congress defeated the British idea of Hindu-India completely when the Constitution of India was introduced in 1951-52. On the other hand, Pakistan fell prey to the plans of the British Raj and became a Muslim nation, now reaping the ill-harvest of that choice.
The first Prime Minister of India was immensely pleased to know that some of “Hindu-India” supporters were defeated in the pre-independence election. However, the seed that the British Raj had been planted in the hearts of “Hindu nationalists” to make India a Hindu nation began to grow, energized by the RSS. The RSS designed a new form of Hinduism, and theologically speaking, their invented Hindutva is a syncretistic religio-political theory based on a misunderstanding of the British East India Company’s operations.
The RSS thought that the British Raj operated with the help of a religious idea created by Christianity. The Christian faith has an idea of a fallen creation that needs a savior, and that savior is introduced as a poor child born of a virgin named Mary. The poor child later claims to be God and rules the hearts of believers religiously, allowing the British East India Company to reap a business harvest worldwide, creating the saying that the “Sun would not set on the British Raj.”
The RSS thinks 2024 is the right time to announce an Indian “poor child” who claims not to be biologically born; an honorable Member of Parliament in Odisha even goes on record so far as to approve the divinity of this “poor child,” stating that Lord Jagannath of Puri Odisha worships the “poor chaiwala child” (the MP recanted later as reported). What in a nutshell can be seen is that the BJP RSS is convinced that this is the time to present this “poor-chaiwala-child” to all of India, proclaiming him as the supreme Hindutva figure who will, in turn, become a light for the entire universe, making Indian culture the World Guru. Under this falsehood of the RSS-generated Hindutva idea, kind of copied from Christianity, the “poor-chaiwala child” has been carefully drafted and used by crony capitalists in India to buy Indian assets, and with their financial backing, the BJP RSS is hoping for “Charso-Paar” election results, so that they can declare India as the “world-guru” country.
I want to warn the BJP RSS and their followers (Andh-Bhakts) that by introducing a false Hindutva, they will not deceive faithful Hindu India indefinitely. The results of the 2024 general elections should be taken as a sign that India has rejected the BJP RSS once again, echoing the historical demand once made to the British Raj: “Go back BJP RSS, Indian diversity fabric is not breakable.” India knows true Christianity, and India respects Christianity without failing to appreciate how it has been a great blessing for her for thousands of years. Indian Hindus have adopted changes in their practices as the church educated her; India is always open to change; this change is nothing but conversion. But India historically has never tolerated cheating in the name of religion.
Therefore, regardless of who wins the general elections, it is safe to say that India is not approaching an iceberg that can destroy its beautiful fabric of diversity.