By Justice Markandey Katju–
Politicians from India’s opposition parties have been signing up for a BJP membership in droves of late (the latest is Sanjay Nirupam of Congress — seen above — on April 4). This has accelerated after the arrests of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other Aam Party leaders, and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren. These cut across party lines and states, and almost all got a reprieve on entering the BJP ‘washing machine’ and became as pure as the driven snow.
How does one explain this? In the past, too, there were ‘Aaya Rams Gaya Rams‘ (party switchers), but there was never an exodus, and that too in favor of one party. Even long-standing Congress leaders have called it quits, and started chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ to align with BJP’s hardline Hindutva ideology.
There are two reasons for this:
1. Almost all politicians have skeletons in their cupboards, as they have amassed huge wealth by corrupt practices. As explained here, politics in India requires a huge amount of money, and this can only be obtained by politicians from big businessmen, which the latter will only give for some quid pro quo.
Therefore, to save their skin from the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Income Tax (IT) authorities, or other government of India agencies, the safest bet for opposition politicians is to jump into the BJP bandwagon.
2. The Congress party was in power for several decades after Independence. However, after the 1989 general elections to the Lok Sabha, in which Congress lost to the National Front under VP Singh, coalition politics took over as it became uncertain who would be in power for long in the Center.
Hence, there was relatively less shifting of allegiances by politicians, realizing that even if they joined the ruling party of the day, there was no certainty it would remain in power for long.
It’s a different story, though, 2014 onwards. The BJP is in power, and it is likely to be in power for at least five more years following the national elections which begin on April 19. It is apparent that the only question is the extent of its majority.
This was bound to happen, once India was partitioned on the basis of the bogus two-nation theory (that Hindus and Muslims are two separate nations). Partition was ceaselessly and relentlessly demanded by Jinnah and his Muslim League, but ultimately Congress leaders like Gandhi and Nehru acceded to it. The latter cannot be absolved from the blame.
Once an Islamic state, Pakistan, was carved out and created, the inevitable consequence was that the rest of India would sooner or later become a Hindu state. As Newton’s third law of motion states, every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
For several decades after Independence, a fig leaf of secularism was maintained in India by the Congress (with an eye on the large Muslim vote bank), but now that fig leaf has been removed.
While still being a de jure secular country, India has become a de facto Hindu country, where 80 per cent of its population is Hindu, and BJP claims to represent them.
Hindus are ordinarily divided along caste lines, but when communal fires are stoked, as during the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation in the early 1990s, they tend to unite against Muslims, who are portrayed — by skilful propaganda — as terrorists, fanatics, and anti-nationals.
I feel BJP will remain in power until Partition is undone and India is reunited under a secular government with modern minded leaders, but that day is far off.
Consequently, more and more opposition politicians, like rats jumping a sinking ship, will join the BJP, to escape the dragnet of the ED and other government of India agencies.
