By
Sushil Kutty
It’s
cyclical, the reign at the helm. Never lasting. If it does, that will be
monarchy. The closest independent India has been to monarchy is elected
dynasty-rule. The BJP made dynasty an election issue, ever so often raking up
the anachronism. But ‘Naamdar’ and “Kaamdar’ cannot be used by Narendra Modi
any longer. It will ring false after the 5-state elections. And the Congress
will not be allowed the privilege of bestowing respectability on Modi by
calling him ‘Chaiwalla.’ These catch words are out the window.
But,
suddenly, after a short interregnum, the dynasty is back in contention. Rahul
Gandhi, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot are all dynasts in degrees. All
the while the BJP was attacking dynasty, millions of Indians solely and solidly
laid their trust on dynasty, especially the Nehru-Gandhi ‘dynasty’. The Indian
Muslim is particularly favourable to dynasty. Must be nostalgia. More than the
Muslims of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, it is the Muslims of India who
feel kinship with dynastic government.
Like
when the Red Fort was residence to Emperor as well as his workplace. Muslims
and democracy do not suit each other. The Gulf is a picturesque spread. Sheikhs
and kings still rule the GCC and will continue to do so till oil runs out. A
stroll through the fertile fields of Social Media reveals the gushing happiness
among Indian Muslims at the “Return of RaGa”. In Malappuram district of Kerala,
which is overwhelmingly Muslim, women facebookers and twiteratti can’t stop
praising “Rahul’s grace, and class”.
Coming
as the three-state successes, on the heels of the Washington Post article
‘Modi’s India is a living nightmare for Muslims’, the praise is triple sweet.
And, mind you, the majority of these Muslim women are dead against the Modi
Government’s meddling in Muslim Personal Law, Triple-Talaq in particular. It is
like with Sati and women’s entry into Sabarimala, women were the most
vociferous opponents to “reform”. Goes to show, bottom-line, religion doesn’t
make a difference.
And,
at the risk of sounding misogynist, women are all the same. But we are diverging,
diverting. And maybe barking up the wrong tree branch. It’s not the Muslim vote
that won Rahul Gandhi Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. Maybe ‘yes’ to a degree
in Rajasthan. But overwhelmingly it is the Hindus who saw to it that the BJP
doesn’t rule any of the three states. Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are for
the most part Hindu and a big slice of the Hindus deserted BJP for Congress. In
Rajasthan, the Jats and Gujjars jumped ship even as sections of the Rajputs
took the return boat.
So,
‘dynasty’ isn’t anathema to Hindus, too. And because Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh
and Madhya Pradesh do not have regional outfits calling the shots like in
Bengal and Bihar – Telangana and Andhra Pradesh – and to an extent in Uttar
Pradesh, the fight is between ‘national parties’ and it just so happens there
are just two of them left, the BJP and the Congress. And wherever these two are
pitched against each other, they put up a great fight, even close fight. It
happened in Karnataka and now in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Chhattisgarh
was a rout because the BJP was asking for a rout! And because of the less
acknowledged fact that the state Congress unit had laid the ground ready for
Rahul Gandhi by laying low the Raman Singh government in every which way
possible. Farmer unrest and Maoist violence contributed and if there are Urban
Naxals there are probably millions of them in the till-the-other-day Raman
Singh-country. Now, the dynasty rules even if by default.
Heading
for the 2019 finale, will the trend hold, i.e., will the country continue to
keep its faith in democracy by dynasty? Isn’t it a sign that Rahul Gandhi
finally blossomed to more than ‘Pappu’ with active tutelage from somebody who
set Rajiv Gandhi centre-stage – Sam Pitroda, sometimes referred to as a
Gandhi-family retainer in the finest traditions of those who preceded him – RK
Dhawan and Yashpal Kapoor; Arun Singh and Arun Nehru; Ahmed Patel?
Fact
of the matter is, Rahul Gandhi is in the process of setting up his own ‘durbar’
and this might be just the beginning of a fairly long Rahul Gandhi-era in
Congress-rule. And going by history, the people of India do not exactly mind a
Gandhi family-dynast at the helm. Generations of Indians have gotten used to it
and whether Hindu-Muslim, Christian or Sikh, a Gandhi is acceptable to all.
Maybe that is the definition of secularism – Sab Ka Saath, Sabka Neta! The
Chaiwala cannot be feted with Wah Taj! That honour is only for a Gandhi. (IPA Service)
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