Historical Context and Communal Rhetoric Mark Tough Campaign for the 2024 General Elections

 

Lifting Old Speeches

In all of her speeches, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has mentioned the sacrifices made by her family, including the assassinations of her father Rajiv Gandhi and mother Indira Gandhi. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has brought up former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's 18-year-old speech, which is purported to have stated that minorities, especially Muslims, should have priority over other groups when it comes to the country's resources. Laloo Prasad Modi has now entered the debate, alleging that during his tenure as Railway Minister, Modi tried to shield the perpetrators of the 2002 Godhra train fire event by appointing a commission that found him not guilty. It's just another instance of minority appeasement, he claimed.

Diverting from the Issue:

As the election campaign heats up and gets more intense, problems like Kachchatheevu are all but ignored. With hardly any attempt to highlight the accomplishments of the government's ten-year rule, the vitriol surrounding the campaign has descended to unprecedented levels. Rather of using moderation, the Prime Minister and senior ministers have attacked the opposition directly, focusing especially on Mamata Banerjee, the leader of the Trinamool Congress, and Congressman Rahul Gandhi.

Communal Campaign:

The world's largest democracy has always had a certain vision of Prime Ministers, and Modi's blatantly sectarian campaign and his worrisome remarks, claiming Muslims infiltrate and have baby-making machines, don't suit that picture. Fear is sweeping through nations. After the first two stages of voting, BJP looked wobbly, but they have now reverted to their tried and tested, trustworthy formula by comparing Congress's agenda with the ideas of the Muslim League. The Grand Old Party's manifesto makes no reference of the supposed Congress plot to divide Hindu properties to Muslims, hence it is a flagrant lie.

OBCs, SCs, STs, and Dalits fear that reservations would be eliminated due to the BJP's assertion that it can easily modify the constitution with a 400-seat majority. This is a potential that Rahul Gandhi and other India Bloc leaders are highlighting. In an attempt to turn the tables on the opposition, the BJP is accused of plotting to reduce the quotas for Dalits and other oppressed Hindus in order to give them to Muslims, and it has resolved to actively foster a Muslim atmosphere among Hindu voters.

Media Silence:

The Election Commission has largely disregarded this obviously communal campaign, which violates every tenet of its Model Code of Conduct. This only serves to confirm the claim that the commission is now merely a helpless puppet of the government. The campaign's strongly communal character has gone mostly unreported by the media, which contributes to the idea that democracy has evolved from its fourth pillar to a flexible weapon of the state.

Ram's Footsteps:

Religious appeals are only a short step away from Lord Ram. Modi's passionate trip to the holy city for the Ram Lalla temple and his roadshow there were undoubtedly motivated by his fear that BJP workers in Ayodhya might cause trouble in the elections. Relying on the fervor for the Ram temple, the saffron party appears to have misjudged, since the grand Pran Pratishtha event presided over by Modi on January 22 has now vanished from the public consciousness. Voters in India are renowned for having limited memory capacity. Caste and religion rule supremely. People are still concerned about issues like healthcare, inflation, and unemployment.

Voters pay attention when parties bring up these concerns, as the opposition has been doing constantly, as these are issues that affect them on a daily basis. The leaders of the India Bloc need to understand that the BJP's communal campaign is really a diversionary strategy, and they need to confront it with hard data and facts. Indian voters have demonstrated time and time again that they should not be taken lightly, and parties must remain aware of their expectations.