Introduction: The election verdict is a reflection of the people’s anger the mailging of Gujarat at home and abroad by selective criticism of the unfortunate happening and the repeated statement of the PCC leader Shankersinh Vaghela that the Godhra incident itself is conspiracy of the leader of the sangh, although the facts clearly speak otherwise.
“India’s Hindu right is on the rise thanks to some rough politics in Gujarat state. Riots broke out in Gujarat last February after the murder of 58 Hindus by a mob. The state's Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, refused to condemn outright the two-month carnage that followed, in which thousands of Muslims were killed by Hindu mobs incited by his party's supporters.” A report in the Pakistani press you would presume? Think again. This is the report filed by the Indian correspondent, believed to be an Indian, for the latest issue of Time (December 22, 2002). The gory incident of Godhra needs no mention. All the passengers torched to death in the ill-fated train compartment were Hindus returning from Ayodhya. The treacherous act was done by a Muslim mob, more than a two thousand strong Muslim mob. But the report says “by a mob”. But when it comes to the details of the post-Godhra riots, the report is highly illuminating: “...thousands of Muslims were killed by Hindu mobs...” The Grand Alliance of the pseudo-secular brigade,' the unemployed Leftists and a complying Congress paid the price for the campaign of calumny that they carried on in Gujarat and all over the globe for over a year.
So, the pseudo-secular brigade is made to cat crow, as the people of Gujarat have rejected the double standards, petty politicking and sustained an deliberate malicious campaign of the Congress and the pseudo-seculars over a long period of time to demonise Narendra Modi and the Government and the people of Gujarat. In the process Election Commission too stretched out its extra vigilant antenna and the State of Gujarat was put under a constant scanner never before witnessed in any other State. The Congress did not fail to remind the electorate that the minorities will not be safe under Shri Modi, and its leader Smt. Sonia Gandhi held out that the salvation of the State and its gaurav will be assured only under the Congress! Writer after secular writer delivered 'secular' sermon on the idea that a victory for the BJP would spell doom for secularism in India! But what is the end result? Not a mere victory, but a landslide victory for BJP. The people of Gujarat have called a halt to this cacophony.
The Congress played the communal card by openly campaigning for Muslim votes and blamed BJP for being communal. It was reported that 80 per cent of the minority community voted and the fatwa issues by its religious leaders ensured every single vote of it to the Congress. But the fatwa politics proved to be the last nail in the Congress electoral coffin in Gujarat. The Congress paid a heavy price for this fatwa politics, as its bastion--central and tribal Gujarat--once considered an impregnable Congress fortress-was lost to the BJP. That the rout was complete is clear from the defeat of Congress stalwart and sitting NW Dinsha Patel. All 13 seats in Panchmahal and Dahod districts have gone to the BJP. Again, 13 seats in Baroda district and 15 out of 17 in Kaira district have gone to the BJP. Ale BJP has bagged 17 of the 19 seats in Ahmedabad district, also swept Baroda, Rajkot and made good gains in Surat. In Saurashtra too, the Congress gains were neutralized by the fatwa politics ensuring a reduction in the denting of BJP votes. Thus the Congress could manage only 18 seats while the BJP managed to retain 39 of the total 58 seats in Saurashtra and Kutch.
In fact, so disenchanted were the people of Gujarat with Congress' double standards and its campaign of calumny that it lost even those seats it won in the bye-election in February this year. At Sayajigunj in the heart of Vadodara the Congress had won the Assembly bye-election on February 24 this year by over 24,000 votes, but now it has lost it by over 90,000 votes. Likewise, if Sabarmati the Congress had won by 22,000 votes, 15 months ago. Now the party heavyweight and former deputy CM Narhari Amin is trounced by over 70,000 votes. To further their woes, Congress has lost all seats bordering Madhya Pradesh, which is headed for elections next year. And that is not all; Rajasthan too is among the eight States that would go to polls next year. And even in Rajasthan, Congress is licking its wounds. Of the three Assembly seats--Sagwara, Bali, and Bansur-that went to by elections Congress could not win even a single scat. All three went to BJP. Furthermore, it lost to BJP in Jharkhand the Godda Lok Sabha seat that too went to by-polls. Also the Congress lost the Khutmai seat in Assam.
In spite of the resounding victory of BJP, the pseudo-secular brigade has come out with its own version of the Gujarat verdict. Instead of accepting it in good faith and in a democratic manner, they have claimed the victory as revenge', 'an unfortunate victory', this will not happen any where else in the country', etc. It is thus most shameful on the part of the pseudo-secular brigade. To cast aspersions on the decision and intelligence of nearly half the electorate of Gujarat in the democratic process.
For the brigade a Congress victory or even a photo finish would have been the victory of secularism. But since they have lost it is the victory of communalism! This despite the fact that while Muslims voted enmasse on fatwas, Hindus did not follow any such diktat, which is apparent from the large number of Hindu votes that the Congress and other parties arrayed against the BJP have polled. Even then Hindus in Gujarat, including those who voted for Congress, are termed communal, en masse, while Muslims are always secular. Needless to say, this brigade will not care to explain this strange doctrine. With numbers on your side, do you still have to be right?
The election verdict is a reflection of the people's anger against the maligning of Gujarat at home and abroad by selective criticism of the unfortunate happenings and the repeated statements of the PCC leader Shri Shankarsinh Vaghela that the Godhra incident itself is conspiracy of the leaders of the Sangh, although the facts clearly speak otherwise. It would be foolish to assume that the people of Gujarat were simply swayed by communal sentiments even after ten months of Godhra incident. The people are, characteristically tolerant and their judgment is well considered taking into account all aspects of their well being including security and developmental issues. The Gujarat result has got a lesson and message for all.
Therefore, it would not be sufficient if the Congress leaders own their defeat as mere ritualistic formality. The moral responsibility for the defeat of the party lies in the truth that the over a century old party has lost its moorings. At the dawn of our Independence, it was the Congress movement that got itself transformed into a political party and echoed the aspirations and sentiments of the people. When the issue of reconstruction of the Somnath Temple was raised by stalwarts like Sardar Patel and Dr K.M. Munshi, the then Prime Minister played it down.
It would be pertinent to mention here that Pt Nehru also took on Dr. K.M. Munshi for his involvement in the re-construction of the Somanath Temple and chastised him for promoting 'Hindu revivalism'. This evoked a strong response in the form of a historic 2000-word letter from D, K.M. Munshi concluded with these stirring words:
'It is our faith in our past which has given me the strength to work in the present and to look forward to our future. I have been given the privilege of seeing my incessant dream of Somanath reconstruction come true. That makes me feel-makes me almost sure-that this shrine once restored to a place of importance in our life will give our people a purer conception of religion and a more vivid consciousness of our strength, so vital in these days, of freedom and its trials.'
A copy of this letter was also endorsed to Shri V.P. Menon, the then Adviser to the States Ministry, and to Sardar Patel, the architect behind the integration of more than 500 states, except Jammu & Kashmir which was handled exclusively and disastrously by Shri Nehru, the ramifications of which are being felt by the whole country even today.
Shri V.P. Menon acknowledged the letter thus: I have seen your masterpiece. I for one would be prepared to live and, if necessary, die by the views expressed by you in your letter.
These were not mere religious sentiments.
The nation was and divided on religious grounds. If the leaders in the
past considered it necessary to keep the aspirations of the people in mind,
they were not being 'communal'. But they in their wisdom did not stop at
that. There was a vision to transform India into a progressive, democratic
and economically strong nation. It is the BJP, which is talking this language
today. No one is advocating a theocratic state, which was never a reality
in the past thousands of years in this land. But dismissing anything that
one fails to grasp due to one's own myopic view as communal is, to say
the least, travesty of truth. In the fight between truth and deceit, truth
prevails.