Hate track for hat-trick? Sab Ko Sanmati de Bhagawan!

Then Modi extends this argument to allege that the Congress would dole away the national wealth to those who have more children and infiltrators. Alleging that the Congress is in the grip of Urban Naxals, he hits a new low by saying that the mangalsutras of Indian women will not be safe

The Election Commission of India has warned political parties to maintain decorum in public campaigning and conveyed stern action against direct or indirect MCC violations, so read a press release issued by the Press Information Bureau on March 1.

The guidelines include, and I would like to repeat for the benefit of us, the voters:

• No appeal shall be made on the basis of caste/communal feelings of the electors. No activity, which may aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension between different castes/communities/religious/linguistic groups, shall be attempted.

• The political parties and leaders shall not make false statements, utterances without factual basis aimed at misleading the voters. Criticism of other parties or their workers on the basis of unverified allegations or on distortions shall be avoided.

• No aspect of the private life, not connected with the public activities, of the leaders or workers of other parties is to be criticised. Low level personal attacks to insult the rivals shall not be made.

• No temples/mosques/churches/gurudwaras or any places of worship are to be used for election propaganda or electioneering. References which ridicule the relations between devotee and deity or suggestions of divine censure shall not be made.

The list is even longer, but the sum and substance of the ECI announcement regarding the strict adherence to the model code of conduct is that the big brother is watching. But in reality, the guidelines appear to have been limited to a piece of meaningless paper. Much like the government agencies, the ECI appears to be playing his master’s voice rather than working as an independent constitutional authority.

The ECI has issued notices to the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) on violations and conveniently turned a blind eye to the series of blatant use of religion during the election campaigns. Arun Govil exhibits a picture of Lord Sri Ram. This exhibitionism has two connotations – reminds people that Govil played the role of Sri Ram in Ramanand Sagar’s tele-serial Ramayan and that the BJP candidate seeks votes in the name of Maryada Purshottam.

Elsewhere, none other than Union Home Minister Amit Shah holds aloft the photograph of Ram Lalla idol that was recently installed at Ayodhya’s incomplete temple. Remember, during the recent elections to the five legislative assemblies, Shah had even offered free Ayodhya darshans to voters.

In a Maharashtra town, youth held a motorbike rally chanting Jai Sri Ram and Aakashwani news bulletin covered it. In another part of the country, campaign vehicles proclaiming “Jo Raam Ko Laaye Hain, Hum UnkoLaayenge '' with absolutely no check whatsoever.

Suddenly, out of the blue, Doordarshan changes its colours – yes that of its logo to orange – which the non-BJP section describes as saffronisation of the government medium. Is the ruling party showing its true colours? (Punn intended!)

As if these are not enough, we have Prime Minister Narendra Modi breaking all rules of the game and indulging in divisive politics. He does not seem to have been done with his vocabulary of blaming Nehru and invoking Mughals to denounce the principal opposition party, the Congress. Modi alleges, utterly wrongly though, that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had declared that Muslims should get priority in distribution of national resources. Then Modi extends this argument to allege that the Congress would dole away the national wealth to those who have more children and infiltrators. Alleging that the Congress is in the grip of Urban Naxals, he hits a new low by saying that the mangalsutras of Indian women will not be safe.

How can we expect any decent language now from other BJP leaders, some whom are already known for their abusive speeches even in Parliament?

Responding to the mangalsutra reference, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said “Prime Minister Modi will go down in history as the PM who has overseen the largest scale sale and mortgage of the gold jewellery owned by Indian women”.

In the last 5 years, Ramesh said in his post on X platform, outstanding gold loans have grown by 300 per cent! In February of 2024, gold loans crossed the Rs. 1 lakh crore mark for the first time in India's history. “These are shameful statistics,” the former Minister said.

Amid all this, the ECI is accused of playing the role of Kumbhkarna (Ravan’s brother who was believed to be sleeping for six months a year).

The ECI has issued notice to Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena as the party used Jai Bhavani in its song. Thackeray refused to oblige and, on the contrary, asked the ECI to act against the PM first. On Ramnavami day, we heard Modi chanting Ram Bhajanin his election rally and saying that Lord Ram’s birthday (yes, he said birthday) was being celebrated after 500 years. Did he mean that Indians did not celebrate the Ramnavami festival for 500 years?

The BJP posted Modi’s videos watching with reverence the Surya Tilak event in which the sun’s rays decorate the Ram Lalla idol in Ayodhya. Though it is a spectacle, it has nothing to do with any divine act. This kind of illumination is managed through reflectors and lenses. Similar exercise was done as a mark of reverence to Telugu Talli in the Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly during the tenure of Chandrababu Naidu as the CM.

Praying Lord Ram as the Surya Tilak flashes on the idol’s forehead is absolutely fine but using it as part of the electioneering is certainly not. What is more, Modi asks his audience during the day to flash mobile torches to send their rays to Lord Ram!

No wonder, a BJP candidate symbolically enacted the scene of pulling an arrow aimed at a place of worship in Hyderabad.

Politics of hate has been the hallmark of BJP’s propaganda. But why does the Prime Minister have to bring down the messaging to such a low level? Is he worried about the party not scoring a hat-trick in the current elections?

It was Modi himself who launched the election campaign from the last session of the 17th Lok Sabha by declaring that the BJP will score 370 seats and cross 400 mark sailing smoothly with the NDA allies. Since then, the Ab ki Baar- Char Sau Paar has been the party’s template.

Critics say that the Mo-Sha combine appears to have lost confidence after the first phase of the ongoing general elections and the Char Sau Paar target appears to be a distant hill. So, what do they do? Back to aggressive Hindutva, attack anti-Sanatan mindset and play the dangerous and divisive M Card. Their other tactics include: continuous polarisation and fanning the Ram wave. Not good for democracy.

Level playing field is a nice sounding phrase that the ECI has been consistently using but without putting it into practice. This obviously provokes the opposition parties to raise questions on the style of appointment of the election commissioners appointed by the Prime Minister. Hence our headline - Sab Ko Sanmati de Bhagwan!

(The columnist is a Mumbai-based author and independent media veteran, running websites and a youtube channel known for his thought-provoking messaging.)