Has Uttar Pradesh changed? That question will be asked often after this election. The state has given a clear verdict for the second time in a row. For two decades before this, it was a state of humongous size, and uncrossable divides of religion, caste, region and even party politics: unlike neighbouring Bihar which, though similar in political demography, has more or less two clear alliances in contention rather than UP’s four-way contests. Further, the two parties that won these clear verdicts (BSP in 2007 and SP now) would normally be described (and dismissed) as mere caste-based parties with limited identity-driven agendas and inelastic appeal. They are bitter rivals. But in devastating both Congress and BJP, they have shown a political genius that the larger national parties have lacked. But would these two successive clear verdicts have been possible if UP had not changed? The answer has to be no, and for a long time there hasn’t been better news for India. It also follows that while the voter in UP has changed, breaking out of the horrible Mandal-Kamandal trap, the two national parties have stayed right there. They are being made to pay for this lack of imagination, this intellectual laziness.
So, what else is new about this verdict, in UP, and elsewhere too? First of all, it has again highlighted to us the perils of contemptuously stereotyping communities and ethnicities as dumb vote banks. Muslims, in particular, have been treated shoddily by political intellectuals of the left and religious right. In 2008, both said that any party supporting the Indo-US nuclear deal would lose the Muslim vote. As if our Muslims somehow put their anti-Americanism above their nationalism and issues like bijli-sadak-paani, jobs, what kind of schools their children go to and whether there are any doctors or medicines in their hospitals or not. Mulayam Singh defied the protesting maulanas to weigh in for the nuclear deal. Now, he has this stunning endorsement by his Muslim voters to show for it. Similarly, Rahul’s ill-advised reminder of the BJP’s Israel connection left his Muslim audiences utterly unimpressed. Definition of identity is complex in India. Modern Indians, rural or urban, have common needs and shared concerns that cut across barriers of caste and religion.
You want to stereotype the Hindu majority, ask the BJP, so deflated after today’s result. It thought Congress had answered its prayers by playing that suicidal Muslim reservation card and brought out vicious advertisements reminding Hindus that their jobs were being taken away and given to Muslims by way of an electoral bribe. If any of the Hindus were impressed, they obviously did not come out to vote. Similarly, you want to profile the Dalits purely in terms of empowerment? They should then have been thrilled with Mayawati’s memorials and the crassness of the way she exercised power. If they were, would they have broken rank with her and reduced her to 79 seats? You will pay severely for stereotyping the poor as well, by telling all they need is free food and only you can get it to them. You cannot treat an entire mass of poor Indians as beggars. Particularly not when they are so impatient in the course of such a remarkable upsurge of aspiration. You presume rural India is peopled by hapless beggars, you will be made to pay for the folly. It may be the deeply held belief of some South Delhi bleeding hearts that feed off the Congress Party gravy train, and some Rajya Sabhaist free-loaders on it. But ask them to go out and get some votes first. Rural India is not inhabited by tens of crores of beggars.
Finally, five states went to the polls today, and four gave clear verdicts, confirming yet another welcome trend. Our voter is no longer confused. Nor is she a prisoner of narrow-focus prejudices and loyalties. She now reads the big picture: agendas, track records, and what’s-in-it-for-me-and- for-my-children’s future. That is why verdict after verdict, you get the same message. That our elections are now becoming increasingly meritocratic. That is why it is not so important who wins or loses. Because it isn’t just Uttar Pradesh that has changed. India has changed. It will vote for those who understand, respect and embrace this change with humility, not hubris.
Also read: Both Hindus and Muslims want development. But that’s where the similarity ends