The months leading up to the Lok Sabha elections were dominated by the Opposition’s single biggest charge against the Narendra Modi government — that the Indian Constitution is in danger and crucial institutions are compromised. Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Mallikarjun Kharge and a battery of Opposition leaders told voters why they should vote for the INDIA bloc — to save the Constitution.
But sometime during the halfway point of the seven-phased general election, PM Modi turned the tables, wielding the Opposition’s weapon against them. He said they should vote for the BJP if indeed they really want to save the Constitution, democracy and reservation. But how did the Prime Minister flip the Opposition Brahmastra?
MUSLIM QUOTA CREATED THE BEDROCK
In late April, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi reiterated that this is an election to save democracy, reservation, the Constitution, and the rights of the poor. “Look, earlier Narendra Modi said ‘400 paar’ (400+ seats). Is he now saying ‘400 paar’? Now he isn’t talking about crossing even 150. Statements are coming that ‘we are not against the Constitution, we are not against reservation, we are not against democracy’. Why? Because they have come to know that the people of the country have understood the real thing… the people of the country have understood that these people want to uproot the Constitution and the rights of the poor,” he said.
But, simultaneously, the BJP ignited a controversy in Karnataka that would form the bedrock of how the party would turn the tables on the Opposition using its own arguments in the days ahead. The PM talked about how Muslims are being given reservations in Karnataka against the ethos of the Constitution while robbing those who deserve it.
Around the same time, when Gandhi was accusing the BJP of weakening the Constitution, Modi, in a rally in Telengana’s Medal district, hit out, saying: “They (Congress) want to insult the Constitution for their vote bank. But I want them to know, till the time I am alive, I will not let them give the reservation meant for Dalits, SCs, STs, and OBCs to Muslims in the name of religion.”
Interestingly, it was in the same rally in which expressed confidence that he would commemorate 75 years of the Constitution in a grand manner during his third term, thus rebuilding the counter-narrative over saving the Constitution.
“The Congress, the Samajwadi Party, the Trinamool Congress — are advocates of religion-based reservations… In fact, the Samajwadi Party even demanded constitutional amendments to give Muslims proportionate reservations. So this shows they are the ones who are keen to change reservations. Because Muslim reservation is completely unconstitutional,” says BJP’s spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala.
OBC QUOTA TURNED THE TABLES
A Calcutta High Court order that came when two phases of voting were left put the INDIA bloc in complete discomfort. The order cancelled all certificates issued to several classes under the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) issued in West Bengal since 2010, calling them “illegal”. Interestingly, here too there was an appeasement angle that the BJP didn’t left unexplored and unexploited.
There are 179 castes on the state list of OBC castes in West Bengal. According to Hansraj Ahir, the Chairman of the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC), 118 are from the Muslim community.
Within hours of the judgment, the Prime Minister trained his guns at not just the TMC, but the entire Opposition. He called the judgment a “slap on the INDI alliance” saying the TMC gave Muslims OBC certificates for their “vote bank politics”.
What helped the BJP bolster its tirade was West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee’s immediate reaction where she said she “will not accept” the order. “I respect the courts. But I do not accept the judgment that says Muslims should be kept out of OBC reservation. OBC reservations will continue. We will go to a higher court if need be,” Banerjee announced.
Senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah immediately hit back, asking: “Mamata ji said that we do not accept the decision of the High Court. I want to ask the people of Bengal, can there be such a Chief Minister who says we do not obey the court’s order?”
The election started with fear-mongering by the Opposition that an absolute majority would help the BJP change the Constitution. By the end of May, PM Modi created the same perception against the Opposition.
While addressing a poll meeting in UP’s Mirzapur, PM Modi claimed the Opposition has decided to “change the Constitution” to give reservations to Muslims. Addressing another rally in Purvannchal’s Ghosi, he talked about three “conspiracies”. Referring to the first, he said, “…the people of INDI alliance will change the Constitution and write in it afresh that reservation should be given on the basis of religion in India.”
Raju Bista, BJP’s Darjeeling MP, told News18: “The Opposition’s call to ‘save the Constitution’ was akin to butchers’ call to ‘save the animals’ — a farce. People of this country have seen through this hogwash… PM Modi has not only checkmated the Opposition, but also exposed them and their hypocrisy for the whole world to see”.
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