A lot has changed in the Bharatiya Janata Party after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. After the defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, the government was formed at the center, but the government does not seem as confident as before in taking decisions. This is the reason why the government has had to take a U-turn on several occasions. Conflict has also started within the party. In Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his two deputy CMs Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak have opened a front but there is peace for now. Meanwhile, there is a competition among the Chief Ministers in the party to become the poster boy of radical Hindutva.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav have taken such decisions and made such statements in the recent past that even Yogi Adityanath is being overshadowed. It is being said that both the Chief Ministers want to surpass the Hindutva of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Not only this, Yogi Adityanath has also been on the path of radical Hindutva for the past few days. In this way, there is a competition among the three Chief Ministers to become the flag bearer of radical Hindutva.
1-If you want to live in India, you have to chant Jai Ram-Krishna: Mohan Yadav
On the day of Janmashtami, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav while addressing a program said that those who want to live in India, they should say Hindu, Lord Ram and Krishna ki Jai. He also said that the citizens of this country are free to follow their own religions but they should be patriots. Along with this, he also said that this will not work if the account is from one place and the account is from another place. However, Mohan Yadav also said that the country does not differentiate between Hindus and Muslims, but it needs people who understand God, his creation, the universe. He said that Rahim and Raskhan were born here.
Recently, the government demolished the houses worth crores of rupees of the accused of stone pelting on the police in Chhatarpur. The vehicles worth crores kept in these houses were also bulldozed. Since the accused of stone pelting was a Muslim, some people also saw a religious angle in this action. Not only Chhatarpur, in Indore also an encroacher had fired at the administration, his mansion was also demolished by the administration. This simply means that people who take law and order into their own hands will not be tolerated.
Mohan Yadav had expressed his intentions as soon as he took oath as the CM of Madhya Pradesh. Yogi’s influence was visible in his initial actions. As soon as he took oath, he decided to ban the sale of meat in the open and ban loudspeakers. After that, he continuously took such decisions which show his will to become a Hindu poster boy.
Not only this, Mohan Yadav has taken the initiative to develop MP as a pilgrimage place related to Lord Ram and Krishna. An action plan is being made to connect 7 temples of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. It has also been decided to teach the books of the thinkers and prominent officials of the Sangh in the colleges of Madhya Pradesh. Along with this, religious education of non-Muslim children in the madrasas of Madhya Pradesh is being banned.
2- Himanta is running the fastest on the pitch of Hindutva
On the pitch of aggressive Hindutva, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa is doing many things that no leader in the country would have done before. Sarma said in the state assembly on Tuesday that he will not allow the Miyan Muslims to take over the state. Speaking in the state assembly on adjournment motions brought by the opposition Congress and AIUDF to discuss the law and order situation in the state in the backdrop of the gang rape of a 14-year-old minor girl in Dhing area of Nagaon district and a recent incident in Upper Assam, the Chief Minister of Assam said that – I will not let Assam become the land of Miyan people.
Himanta’s obsession to become the poster boy of Hindutva is not new. He had taken the path of hardcore Hindutva since joining the Bharatiya Janata Party. Be it the constant statements about the Muslim population, the attempt to obstruct Muslim marriages in the name of child marriage or the talk of CAA and NRC, Himanta, who came to BJP from Congress, spews fire against the Muslim community in such a way that even a born BJP member cannot compete with him.
Just last week, Himanta talked about barring students from the privately owned University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM), one of the top 200 universities under NIRF, from Assam government jobs. The institute is run by a foundation owned by Mahbubul Haque, a Bengali-Muslim from Assam, who is also the chancellor of the institute. Himanta believes that the cutting of forests and hills to build the university campus is the reason for Guwahati’s flash floods. Sarma says all this is due to flood jihad against Assam.
Sarma had earlier accused Bengali-Muslim farmers of fertilizer jihad. He said that diseases are spreading among people due to uncontrolled use of fertilizers in growing vegetables. Accusing Muslims of land jihad in the state, he also announced a decision to curb the sale of land to them and said that the government will bring a law punishing love jihad with life imprisonment. All these are the reasons why his popularity is continuously increasing in Assam.
3- Yogi is returning to his old form of radical Hindutva
Yogi Adityanath has been a firebrand leader of Hindutva. But after becoming the Chief Minister, his attitude had softened a bit. But since last month, he has suddenly donned his old attire again. He has again returned to his familiar style of aggressive Hindutva. Recently, whenever he has spoken about the Bangladesh situation, he has only spewed fire. Just 2 days ago in Agra, he appealed to Hindus to be cautious. He said that if we are divided, we will be slaughtered. The mistakes of Bangladesh should not be made here. If we stay united, we will be noble and safe.
This face of Yogi’s hardline Hindutva started showing up last month. At the end of July, the state government introduced a bill to amend the anti-conversion law, making the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, more stringent. The UP assembly passed the amendment bill on July 30, re-emphasizing its intention to end love jihad.
The order to the roadside vendors and shopkeepers on the Kanwar Yatra route to write their names outside their establishments has been supported and opposed across the country. There has been a lot of Hindu-Muslim tension in UP due to the accused in the Ayodhya rape case being a Muslim. Yogi himself took cognizance of this matter and took action to bulldoze the house and establishments of the accused.
4-Why is there a competition in BJP to emphasize on Hindutva
The party has learned a lot from the defeat of BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The way Congress and other parties of the India group are trying to make caste an issue, it seems that to counter it, BJP has decided to take the path of hardline Hindutva. Even before this, when Mandal politics started in the country, BJP had countered it with Kamandal. Political analyst Saurabh Dubey says that seeing the success of Yogi Adityanath, when other Chief Ministers are trying to follow his path, then why should Yogi step back. Yogi Adityanath also has to retain the title of Hindu Hriday Samrat, so it seems beneficial for him to come back in his old form.
Another thing is that BJP has understood that it is not going to get any vote from the Muslim community. If Hindutva gets polarized, BJP will get the strength to deal with all the attacks of the opposition.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)