Maharashtra And Jharkhand Struggle To Get Rid Of BJP

However, the role of Congress is crucial in both States. Regional forces might be boasting of their capabilities against the BJP’s onslaught, but it is Rahul Gandhi and Congress that have begun the real fight on the ground. The INDIA alliance is an outcome of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Rahul’s theme of cordiality is at the core of the fight against the divisive narrative of Hindutva. Is Congress ready to take this theme forward?

Elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand are important for the country's political future. If these elections are decided in favor of Prime Minister Modi, it would further speed up the decline of Indian democracy. Whatever possibility parliamentary elections have opened up for some control over authoritarianism trends will be lost, at least, for the rest of Modi’s third term. Prime Minister Modi would magnify the mandate to justify his autocratic decisions. We have seen how he claimed a big mandate even after his party lost its majority in Lok Sabha in the 2024 elections. The victory in Haryana gave a big boost to his narrative that he enjoys a huge people’s mandate. He has been manufacturing this narrative since 2014 when he came into power. It is true that he has won elections and got a majority. But, by no means, it could be portrayed as huge. The most disturbing aspect of the entire affair is that he does not care how he wins elections and gathers the majority. He is guilty of splitting party after party in provinces and engineering defections in their worst forms. He manipulates defection rules and the judicial process is obvious. Adopting corrupt practices to win elections and form governments is not new in our political system, but trying to prove it as a correct political act is. It shows the deep-seated contempt for the Constitution and democracy. It affects the morale of political workers. When an entire party changes its allegiance to an alliance, it cannot be challenged. It is also fair to split a party on some issues. But it is unacceptable if extra-political means—money or pressures from government agencies—influence these decisions. We have seen in Maharashtra how two major parties—Shiva Sena and the NCP—were split. In Jharkhand too, the ruling BJP tried the same but without any success.

Both Maharashtra and Jharkhand have witnessed unprecedented political dramas involving the Election Commission, the Supreme Court of India, and floors of the House. We see a complete failure in the enforcement of anti-defection laws. Ironically, the Supreme Court did not intervene in time and later ruled that Ekenath Shinde had illegally formed the government, but the Court refused to dismiss it.

In Jharkhand, the Enforcement Directorate chased Chief Minister Hemant Soren, forced him to resign, and put him behind bars. The High Court dismissed the allegations against him and allowed him to come out. The BJP lured Champai Soren, who held the post of chief minister in the absence of Hemant Soren and inducted him into its party. In Maharashtra, when Shinde joined hands with the BJP, he was senior minister in the Uddhav Thackrey cabinet. Ajit Pawar was the Leader of Opposition when he joined the BJP-led alliance. People of both the states only know how the political systems in their states have been irrecoverably derailed.

Maharashtra achieved equilibrium in different spheres of society only after a long political and social struggle. A wide ideological range made these struggles vehicles of change. Ideological debates in Maharashtra have been echoing in the national arena since the days of Ranade, Tilak, Phule, Shahu Chhatrapati Maharaj, and Baba Saheb Ambedkar. The social coalition forged under the leadership of Congress during the regime of Yashwant Rao Chavan resulted in huge economic growth in the state. With the rise of the BJP at the national level in post-Babri Demolition politics affected the state. The alliance of Shiv Sena with the BJP has been retrogressive. This was a collusion of identity politics with the politics of communalism. Marathi identity merged into Hindu identity. The nature of the alliance was opportunistic, as could be seen in the fact that one was asserting a regional identity and the other was aspiring to become the national identity. Was it not contradictory? Shiv Sena wanted to establish dominance of Marathi people in every sphere, and it was contradictory to the unity of all Hindus. This opportunistic alliance could gain acceptance in the state because a large mass has yet to be accommodated in the power structure. This alliance capitalised on it.

The realisation in Shiv Sena that the BJP is out to finish it has frustrated it and forced it to change its course. Shiv Sena’s joining a secular alliance is a success of politics of democracy and secularism in the country. The shrinking size of the National Democratic Alliance is a boost for all the democratic forces.

Like Maharashtra, Jharkhand is also trying to restore its political and social equilibrium. Chief Minister Hemant Soren is trying to foil the BJP's attempt to distort the political equations of the State. Unlike Maharashtra, Jharkhand has not restored its political equilibrium from the BJP to preserve its economic power. The State has to restore it for the struggle it has to continue to preserve its resources. Here, also, the BJP is trying to dismantle progressive forces that have long been fighting against exploitation and atrocities. However, the role of Congress is crucial in both States. Regional forces might be boasting of their capabilities against the BJP’s onslaught, but it is Rahul Gandhi and Congress that have begun the real fight on the ground. The INDIA alliance is an outcome of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Rahul’s theme of cordiality is at the core of the fight against the divisive narrative of Hindutva. Is Congress ready to take this theme forward? The outcome of the Haryana elections has necessitated soul-searching among the Congress leaders. This is high time now to think of an organizational overhaul in the party. The loss on the ground due to organizational shortcomings needs to be stopped. The Congress’ failure in Haryana has brought the organizational weakness to the fore. It should not be repeated in Maharashtra and Jharkhand.

(The author is a senior journalist. He has experience of working with leading newspapers and electronic media including Deccan Herald, Sunday Guardian, Navbharat Times and Dainik Bhaskar. He writes on politics, society, environment and economy)