Ten years is a long time in politics. During this time India has witnessed a new political paradigm. Modern India, since the time of Independence, has not straitjacketed itself into an ideological narrative, like many countries did after freeing themselves from the colonial powers. India was broadly governed by a few stray thoughts like secularism, modernism, federalism, democracy, scientific temper and pluralism. India was more a mosaic of many cultures and there never was a fear that followers of a particular faith or culture would face subordination by the dominant culture. Since 2014, India has blossomed into an ideological state and Hindutva has become the dominant creed. In the run-up to the 2014 parliamentary elections, the BJP did not use Hindutva as a major mobilising tool; the 'Gujarat model' of economic development was packaged into an attractive alternative to the Congress's corruption. However, after the BJP came to power, Hindutva proved to be a formidable tool for winning elections, along with the Modi cult. Now it seems that narrative may be losing its charm. The politics of freebies - revdi culture - is becoming the new normal.
Lavishing freebies on voters is not new in Indian politics. Tamil Nadu has experimented with this for more than two decades. North India, however, is just wising up to its potency in winning elections. Arvind Kejriwal deserves credit for this. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)'s unprecedented success in 2013 was ascribed to the promise to Delhi voters that they would get up to 200 units of free electricity and water would be supplied at half the price. Within a year of its formation, AAP decimated Sheila Dixit's Congress in Delhi and won 28 seats. After forming the government, Kejriwal implemented both the schemes, which became AAP's calling card, and led him to superlative victories in Delhi and Punjab.
Narendra Modi, after becoming Prime Minister, did launch the Ujjwala scheme to provide free gas stoves (chulha) to people below the poverty line. But schemes like this and many others were categorised as welfare schemes. In fact, many political analysts used a new descriptor - Labharthi or the beneficiary class - and claimed that it is a new social base of the BJP. Opposition parties struggled to counter Modi's brilliant combination of Hindutva and welfare.
The opposition led by the Congress did realise that the BJP had successfully painted them as anti-Hindu and pro-Muslim. In a country where more than 80 per cent of the population is Hindu, it was a dangerous prospect for any party to be seen as anti-Hindu. No wonder that Rahul Gandhi, after becoming Congress president, was seen temple-hopping with fervour. He even went to the extent of showing his Janeu, the sacred thread worn by Brahmins. It did pay off; the BJP struggled to keep the Congress at bay and win the Gujarat election. The party could not win a majority in Karnataka and lost Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. But on the back of the Pulwama terror attack and India's retaliatory air strikes targeting terror training camps in Pakistan's Balakot, Modi returned with a bang in 2019.
Even after 2019, political parties avoided being seen with Muslims. This was the time when Muslims were being targeted by right wing Hindutva-vadis. Left orphaned by the political parties and discriminated against by law enforcing agencies, Muslims were left to fend for themselves. This was an attempt by the opposition to appropriate the politics of Hindutva. Arvind Kejriwal was seen livestreaming his Diwali Puja. If he recited the Hanuman Chalisa then Mamata Banerjee proudly chanted the Gayatri Mantra during the West Bengal assembly election. Rahul, Kejriwal or Mamta, all proclaimed themselves to be proud Hindus.
Even in these elections, Bhupesh Baghel and Kamal Nath both tried to project themselves as Hindu leaders. This drew criticism from a section of left liberals who accused them of chasing Hindutva politics.
But a new political narrative was rearing its head. The Congress had tasted blood when its promise of upto 300 units of free electricity and Rs 1,500 to women (aged 18 to 60 years) every month, along with the restoration of the old pension scheme, helped them win Himachal Pradesh. The Congress repeated similar guarantees in Karnataka. It promised 200 units of free power, Rs 2,000 to women heads of every family, 10 kg free rice to each member of the state's poorest families, Rs 3,000 a month to graduates and Rs 1,500 for diploma holders. The cost to the state exchequer was estimated to be approximately Rs 62,000 crore. The Congress routed the BJP in Karnataka. The Karnataka victory created a new template for the Congress. The BJP was rattled. PM Modi called the freebies culture "dangerous for development".
On 16 July 2023, Modi said in Uttar Pradesh's Jalaun, "In our country today, attempts are being made to bring a culture of garnering votes by distributing revdis. This revdi culture is very dangerous for the development of the country. People of the country, especially the youth, need to guard against this culture."
However, the BJP led by the same Modi is driven to hand out revdis in the elections in five states. When the Congress promised a gas cylinder at Rs 500 and Rs 1,500 to women every month, the BJP promptly announced Rs 1,250 per month for women under the "Ladli Behna Yojana" and gas cylinders at Rs 450 beneficiaries of the Ujjwala and Ladli Behna Yojana. Like Himachal and Karnataka, the Congress again promised up to 100 units of free power in Madhya Pradesh.
Interestingly in Rajasthan, when the BJP announced it would provide gas cylinders at the cost of Rs 450 to counter the Congress's earlier promise of cylinders at Rs 500, the Congress revised its own promise and announced that now it would give cooking gas at Rs 400. If the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan distributed laptops to young graduates and free mobile phones to girls, the BJP promised free scooties for girl students, and copying the Congress promise of free education up to graduation for all students in Chhattisgarh, the BJP in Rajasthan promised to make "KG to PG free".
I am not an economist so I am not in a position to speculate whether the freebies culture will be detrimental to the country as the Prime Minister said; but this clearly indicates that a new political narrative is emerging and it might overwhelm the BJP. No doubt, Hindutva has given a cutting edge to the politics of the BJP. It has helped the party to not only consolidate its ideological base structure but has also attracted new voters and helped enhance the organisation's super structure. It has definitely created a new electoral social class that does not carry the baggage of secularism and proudly asserts its Hindu moorings. This 'new' class might not be anti-Muslim in its ethos but it definitely wears its 'Hinduness' on its sleeve. It is this Hindu who is not ideologically committed to RSS's Hindutva, who can be attracted to the freebies and shift preference due to the perceived lack of economic delivery by the BJP in states and also at the Centre.
Let us not forget that the voters moved to the BJP in 2014, because, in a fast-changing technological age, the Congress failed to compete with the aspirations of the New Society.
I know it is too early for conclusions but it is hard to miss the shift. Those who imagine that the life span of Hindutva politics is short, prepare to be hugely disappointed. Hindutva is here to stay but the 'aspirational' Hindu, who gave the BJP a cutting edge, may chart a new course.
Freebies is just a hint of the disappointment. As I said, 10 years is a long time in politics, therefore, now is the time for the BJP to re-orient its socio-political and politico-economic strategy. It's the era of artificial intelligence, but the Indian voter's mind is not artificial. It does not need a machine to think for themselves. It has its own creative thinking. Political parties including the BJP need to understand that.
(Ashutosh is author of 'Hindu Rashtra' and Editor, satyahindi.com.)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author.