The RSS/BJP is using several strategies to consolidate their power in India. This is the summary of the strategies they are using to woo different sections of the Indian population:

For Tribals, the tribal museums are promised that will showcase the contribution of the tribals in the freedom struggle along with showcasing through “tribal diaries” app the use of Forest Right Act in getting land to the tribals. For Dalits, the adulation of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar is taken to the political height by co-opting him all possible ways, to the extent that the Dalits leaders like Paswan and Athavale are declaring the RSS/BJP as pro-Dalits. For OBCs, the new National Commission of Backward Classes (NCBC) is proposed and awaiting passage in the Rajya Sabha. For Muslims, the selecting wooing of Sufi-oriented Muslims and Shias are wooed. For Muslim women, the issue of triple talaq is brought into the discussion. For the poor, the RSS/BJP is likely to deposit a few thousands rupees before the next Lok Sabha elections in their account under Universal Basic Income (UBI) scheme. For the Hindus at large, the RSS/BJP is raising the issue of Gau-raksha (cow protection) and construction of Ram Temple. For the political supremacy and dictatorship, the RSS/BJP is out to decimate all the regional parties and make Indian politics opposition free. For the youths, the RSS/BJP is creating youth-oriented programs and policies.

This is a long list of strategies used by the RSS/BJP to attract various constituencies, and at times, two or three strategies are overlapping. The “deep establishment” and the “real power structure” is trying to create a system from which nothing can escape. What is the interest of “deep establishment” in India? The purpose of the “deep establishment: the axis of capitalism (Banianism) and Brahmanism” is to keep power in the hands of the Brahmins. It is impossible to keep the power by clearly stating the goal, but it is very much visible in India as to where the power is getting concentrated and how. From the brief analysis of the strategies of the RSS/BJP, it can be visible that they will not help these communities to consolidate and these policies remain surfacial. But they peg people emotional as the issues are flagged in a way that will make people believe that it is in their interest by the media campaign.

If we consider the needs of the communities starting from the tribals, we can come up with a set of different but effective and useful programs for the tribals. Same with the Dalits. Same with the poor. For example, the tribal needs access to education, participation in the government, and above all, freedom from the exploitative miners and capitalists. The Dalits need freedom from caste oppression and complete fulfillment of the promises made to them. The OBCs need their share in the power according to their number. The Muslim women need ways to escape from their perpetual poverty trap. The youths in India need free access to education. The bottom line is the constituencies that the RSS/BJP is targeting with emotional programs do not need those programs. Their existential needs are different, but they are targeted emotionally.

[irp]

It will take a longer space and time to deliberate on what can be possible counterpoints to the RSS/BJP’s set of strategies. But it is sufficient to say at this moment that the master strategy will be two-pronged: expose the Hindutva agenda of the Brahmins as a device to entrap the SCs, STs, OBcs into “Hindu” fold and trash out community specific strategy for their liberation which will counter the RSS/BJP’s strategy. The larger question is who will do it. It is equally that important figures are emerging in different communities, but somehow, there is no interaction with those emerging liberal and democratic strands in different communities.

The scattered Bahujans do hot have a strong organization like RSS which caters to the interests of the minority Brahmins and the caste system and attitude makes it impossible for the scattered and divided Bahujans to create a common front against the Brahminical hegemony. It seems that the way to start consolidating such a front will begin at the political level, instead of caste and cultural level. But the non-Brahmin political consolidation must go hand in hand with the non-Brahminical cultural consolidation. If these consolidations are somehow triggered by developing a common language of persuasion and mobilization, the RSS/BJP’s hollow and emotional programs can be exposed.

Author – Mangesh Dahiwale, Human Rights Activist

Feature Image Credit – PTI

[irp]