Sutanu Guru
It is impossible for a section of “liberals” to accept the simple common-sense fact that Indian voters are electing BJP governments because of a good governance track record and because they have more trust in Narendra Modi and his team to deliver on welfare schemes or “freebies”. Since accepting this would destroy the very foundations of their ideological bigotry, “liberals” always look for excuses whenever the BJP wins.
Of course, when other parties win in India, which is quite often, the same liberals common sense explanations like the Congress or a regional party offered a better alternative to the voters than the BJP. Now that the BJP has steamrolled the Congress in Hindi heartland states of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh & Madhya Pradesh, it is time for the “liberals” to blame the voter for the wrong verdicts.
The author has worked with Salil Tripathi in the late 1980s and found him cheerful and positive. Somehow, Modi hatred has transformed him into a lunatic liberal who seems to have lost mental balance.
Here is what Tripathi posted on X or Twitter soon after the election results came in: “The idea, that voters’ verdict is to be respected, needs to be unpacked. Of course, it must be honoured. But it does not mean it is beyond criticism. German voters were wrong in 1933. Brexit voters were wrong in 2016. Trumpists were wrong that year. Wilders voters are wrong this year”.
Imagine, the fellow is so consumed by Modi hatred that he is comparing a bunch of assembly election results of 2023 to a 1933 election in Germany where the Nazis led by Adolf Hitler came to power. Not only that, he is also comparing Modi with a murderous monster like Hitler and a conman cum clown like Donald Trump. But then, it has been a habit of liberals since long to call the BJP fascist and Modi a Hitler. The likes of Tripathi are now taking it into another level by squarely accusing the Indian voter of bigotry and worse.
This tendency was in glorious display around this time last year when the BJP had won a resounding victory in the 2022 Gujarat assembly elections. Gujaratis as a class and community were abused and excoriated for voting for the BJP. Here is a tweet from a very “liberal” journalist Pamela Philipose: “Dear Gujarat, rapists and murderers may be garlanded, anemia levels may remain high, the poorest may be swept away in vanity beautification, but the BJP and its government is immutable.”
The honourable lady added for good measure: “Dear Gujarat…you have proved yet again that electoral democracy does not have a chance against Money, Media and Muscle power.” Another liberal who calls herself @deepsealioness had no patience for polite words and came straight to the point in her tweet: “Gujaratis are the worst Indians”.
When Yogi Adityanath won a second consecutive mandate in the 2022 assembly elections, the liberals had similar things to say about the voters of Uttar Pradesh. Just look at the brazen and shameless audacity of these “liberals”. They claim to be inclusive and tolerant. They start hysterically complaining when others “label” them and call it bigotry. Yet, they have no problems and no shame in labelling and abusing entire communities.
Another trope that is being flogged by the liberals is the so-called north-south divide in India. Since the Congress won a famous victory in the southern state of Telangana but lost badly in the north, this trope is back with a vengeance. A liberal handle called @Joydas posted this on X after the election results came out: “Reality of India is that a labourer from UP who will go to Kerala to earn a living and get a better life will still vote for the BJP in UP to support his religion”.
This guy stats with the presumption that voting for the BJP is bad behaviour. In any democracy, you have the absolute right to dislike a political party or leader. But to abuse and mock someone else who supports that party or leader is taking “liberalism” a bit too far. There are numerous such posts glorifying the north south divide and basically calling North Indians who vote for the BJP a bunch of savages.
Here is another gem of a post from a physician named @GorwayGlobal with more than 12,000 followers: “South India is a whole different country in contrast to North India. Better educated, more civilised, less communal, far more tolerant than the cow-belt of the North. They also vote differently.”
The fact is that this so called north south divide being peddled is utter nonsense. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had more MPs than the Congress in the south. In Tamil Nadu, the Congress survives at the mercy of DMK. Both are virtually non-existent in Andhra. It is now that the Congress has won Telangana which was once its bastion. The BJP fares poorly compared to the Congress in Kerala.
Yet, it manages a 15% vote share. The Congress vote share in UP, Bihar & West Bengal is less than 5%. But these facts will come in the way of the “liberal” narrative. At this rate, I have little doubt that these hate filled, bigoted and lunatic liberals will blame the entire population of India when Narendra Modi wins a third consecutive mandate in May 2024.
(Author has been a media professional for over 3 decades. He is now Executive Director, C Voter Foundation. Views are Personal)