The Big Fight: Uttar Pradesh - The Return Of Identity Politics?

Change, development, jobs, efficiency, and an end to corruption, discrimination - it was these top promises as demonstrated by his popular slogan Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas, that swayed the elections in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014. But two-and-half-years later, a different discourse is being heard in the Hindi heartland of Uttar Pradesh - instead of jobs, Make in India, Beti Padhao, the high-decibel campaign is now focussing on competitive communalism - allocation of money for "kabarastan and shamshan" (crematoria and burial grounds), from netas insinuating that laptops have been distributed on the basis of religion to parties boasting of fielding a sizeable number of Muslim candidates. Where does it lead us? An unending vortex of caste and identity politics from which India has been unable to pull itself out? A gargantuan obstacle that puts a leash on the immense talent and energy that the youth wants to use to build a new India - where equality is the bedrock and Vikaas (development) is the only political buzzword? A roadblock that stifles nation building from taking a sublime form and attaining the glorious height that is only bestowed to a religious ceremony?