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Surprise, surprise! It' seems that us Marathis aren't the only
fundamentalist-divisive-fascist force in India, after all. That
onus is now shared by the multi-ethnic mix of Hindu population",
and Christians, and Muslims, who catapulted the BJP-SS combine to
power in Bombay in the recent municipal elections. Or as The Asian
Age headline screamed, "Non-Marathis swung balance towards Sena.
Western suburbs favoured party more than traditional strongholds".
It would be a lie to say that I had expected Balasaheb Thackeray to
even scrape through. But then, I mostly read English newspapers. I
suppose if the Janata, too, had gone by the world according to the
press, it would have to be especially demented to vote in the
Hindutvawadis. Which makes me wonder, what exactly do the results
say about the press?
The experts have now sussed the reasons for the combine's
non-defeat; and the said reasons why the BJP-SS, unfortunately, did
not lose are:
"the indifferent campaign conducted by the opposition";
the Congress having "failed to cash in on the situation";
the inability of the opposition "to present a viable alternative";
the "disunity and inertia" within the Congress;
the Congress's failure to hitch up with the Republican Party of
India/Samajwadi Party/Any Other Party;
the "infiltration of the underworld" having kept a large number of
voters away; (and when all else failed),
the massive poll-rigging by the Sena.
All of which brings to my mind that delightfully graphic aphorism
popular amongst musicians: Miya girey to bhi taang upar. Like, the
Sena did not lose only because of what the opposition failed to do.
Alternatively, had the Sena suffered defeat, that would have been
due to the positive, right-minded. unifying efforts of the
secularist parties. (If you notice, after all the media persuasion,
even I flinch from using words like "victory" and "win" vis-avis
the Sena.) AS for the Sena's rigging the ballots, the Press Club in
Bombay privately buzzes that there were equal numbers of SP and
Congress bogus voters.
The Thackerays have always said that skyscrapers never do vote for
them. Quite true: the conservative, money-bags areas of South
Bombay (Cuffe Parade ' Warden Road) remained stubbornly Congress.
Which makes me wonder why the Sena is an anathema to Leftists. I
mean, here's a party supported by the exploited mill-workers, the
poor, the downtrodden of Lalbaug and Parel, those very same
supporters who religiously 90 out in droves to the booths.
Or, as the ToI says, "Disgust at the number of candidates With
criminal records may have accounted for the low voter turnout,
especially in the elite areas of Mumbai. On the other hand, those
who came out to vote were very likely committed supporters of the
combine. "Don't know about you, but I am a rank elitist. And yet,
even I can't quite stomach the implications of that "on the other
hand". Does it mean that the elite reject criminals and the
non-elite support them? Which may be completely true... but then
why go on and on about "divisive", "fascist", etc? Just say,
'because the elite didn't vote, the goondas came to power through
the scum vote" and be done with it!
Another baffler. Aren't the poor . and downtrodden said to consist
almost exclusively of scheduled castes and minorities? Then, in
our secularist tradition, shouldn't the wishes of these guys be
respected? all tres confusing, I tell you.
Ah! The middle class. That must be the culprit, then. Those largely
educated, mind-my-business, spine of the society, working folks -
damn bourgeoisie. Certainly, their verdict should always be looked
upon suspiciously.
So then I went thinking, which class was left that could
unambiguously fit the Nazi bill? Must be those typical ghaati
goondas who go around chucking bombs at minorities. Only, on the
front page, in bold print, was yet another ToI report: "Sena wins
the hearts of Behrampada Muslims" - and with a non-losing margin of
over 4,700 votes. I blanched. My heart leapt to the editors. Can
you even remotely imagine the struggle, the drama, the pathos in
their moral dilemma ... ?
And then the report said that it was the same with the macks of
Bandra! Foiled. Now what to do? Where to go? what's this
defilement of a pure-Aryan party, achtung?
So I thought of checking out the sarva dharma samabhav Congress and
showing solidarity with its relentless Kini-sian hero, ex-Sainik
Chhagan Bhujbal. And guess what - the six district chiefs of the
MRCC had just asked for his expulsion on the grounds of his having
alienated Muslims and Dalits many, many moons ago.
I may be wrong, but I'm convinced that it's a Thackeray-Pawar
conspiracy against this essentially decent man. It's true that
once upon a time he had "levelled serious allegations against" the
Muslim community. Too, he had attacked Mahatma Gandhi and
demanded, "the installation of the statue of Gopal Godse, the man
who assassinated the father of the nation". (Please note: the
editors who placed this report under the masthead of ToI are
unaware that Gopal is the released brother of Nathuram Godse, the
actual assassin.)
So I'm thinking, what a nice party the Congress is! Despite all
this, they take Bhujbal into the fold and make him the spearhead of
the anti-Thackeray bill. And now that... but lei's not get into
that. However, I really am sorry to see Mr Murli Deora go.
Perhaps he was not virulent enough; perhaps he was overplacatory.
But I think we elitist Mumbaikars largely like him: and it's
reassuring to see a Congressman actually assuming responsibility
for a defeat. Certainly, I'll miss his dapper presence in Bombay's
political circles.
But enough of that; let's talk money. Mr Chidambaram's budget was
the single-most important happening of the month. Unfortunately,
we still can't escape politics... In all (and I mean "all") of my
life, I have never ever seen the entire country give kudos to a
finance minister. I'm clueless when it comes to the implications
of an annual budget, but if everybody says it's good, it means that
the United Front is gonna stay a while.
And you know what? I don't mind it a bit. They've given some hope
to the people; the PM snoozes so much that he can't actively be
doing terrible things; Dr Farooq Abdullah is making all the right,
jingoistic noises in Kashmir... Life isn't so bleak, after all.
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