Radical Shift In India's Politics

By Shakir Husain Shakir Husain, Bernama's correspondent in New Delhi shares his take on the Indian capital city. NEW DELHI, March 21 (Bernama) -- They say that a week is a long time in politics. And the week gone by witnessed some radical shift in India's politics. The five states that held assembly elections recently now have new governments. In Punjab, the Indian National Congress scored a clear victory and returned to power after a long gap with Amarinder Singh as chief minister. In the coastal state of Goa, the Congress received more seats than any other party but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in power after it secured support from smaller parties. Manohar Parrikar quit as India's defence minister to become Goa's new chief minister. The Congress protested in vain that its mandate to govern was stolen from it. The formation of government in Manipur, the north-eastern state bordering Myanmar, was also contentious. The Congress emerged as the single largest party, but the state's new chief minister is Nongthombam Biren Singh of the BJP. The state is politically more important than its small population of 2.8 million may suggest. SECOND MOST POWERFUL JOB IN INDIA In the hill state of Uttarakhand, which was once part of India's most populous state Uttar Pradesh (UP), the new chief minister is Trivendra Singh Rawat following the BJP's strong election performance against the Congress. However, the state making international headlines is Uttar Pradesh. With a population of more than 220 million (more people live there than in Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Cambodia and Brunei put together), it accounts for 80 seats in the Lok Sabha, the 545-member lower house of India's bicameral parliament. The chief ministership of UP can be described as the second most powerful job in India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is from Gujarat, but he makes every effort to identify himself with the state's politics. His parliamentary constituency is the Hindu holy city of Varanasi, where he heavily campaigned during the state assembly elections. The BJP won 312 seats in the 403-member legislature. Its rivals were shocked beyond belief at the scale of their loss. The ousted chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is praised for undertaking many development projects in the state, which suffers from low literacy levels and high rates of crime, violence and unemployment. But UP's politics can be more unwieldy and divisive than other states, and often hinges on issues involving cows and cattle, religion, language and caste. Clearly, administering such a state can be challenging. GREATER COMMUNAL POLARISATION The BJP has sent shockwaves across India with its choice of Uttar Pradesh chief minister. Yogi Adityanath (born Ajay Singh), aged 44, who is known for making provocative and controversial statements, was sworn in as chief minister on March 19. Elected five times to parliament from the Gorakhpur constituency, he has been accused of inciting violence against Muslims. His oath-taking event in Lucknow was attended by Modi, several BJP heavyweights, and former chief ministers Akhilesh Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav. Dalit leader and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati stayed away from the ceremony. Curiously, neither Adityanath nor his two deputy chief ministers are state lawmakers and will have to become members of the state assembly within six months to stay in their posts. Veteran journalist Shekhar Gupta says Adityanath's choice as chief minister is no surprise. Adityanath "is only a logical next step to politics of not fielding one Muslim in 403," he said on Twitter, referring to the BJP not fielding a single candidate from the minority community despite Muslims forming almost one-fifth of UP's population. Congress leader Veerappa Moily calls the development the "biggest assault" on secularism in India and his party spokesman Manish Tewari predicts greater communal polarisation. RENAME THE TAJ MAHAL However, BJP leaders flatly reject opposition criticism and defend Adityanath as a man who stands for economic "development" and "nationalism" and would make Uttar Pradesh an "Uttam Pradesh" (best state). "This mandate is against caste politics, religious politics and vote bank politics," said M. Venkaiah Naidu, a minister in Modi's government. The head of a temple complex in Gorakhpur, Adityanath is a proponent of building a Ram temple on the site of the demolished Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. He also wants to rename some of India's famous cities and towns because they reflect the country's Islamic heritage. In a television interview he even said he would rename the Taj Mahal. -- BERNAMA