New Delhi: As the assembly polls in Jharkhand and Maharashtra ended on November 20, it may be a good time to review the impunity with which the BJP violated the model code of conduct in its social media campaigns.
Unmindful of the provisions of the model code, the BJP posted blatantly communal social media videos in Jharkhand targeting the Muslim community. Earlier this week, its campaign in the state used the unverified pretext of an increasing problem of illegal “infiltration” from Bangladesh – an accusation that its opponents have vehemently denied – to visually depict Muslims as unwelcome guests in an assumed Hindu state. The video was titled “Poore Jharkhand ka kaya palat kar denge.”
This is despite the fact that a similar video circulated by the saffron party the previous week had already drawn sharp responses from many quarters. It had circulated a video that showed caricatures of incumbent chief minister Hemant Soren, his wife Kalpana Soren and other INDIA bloc leaders as corrupt politicians who were conspiring to ally with Muslim “outsiders” to come back to power.
The Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha immediately registered a complaint with the Election Commission (EC) saying the video was “misleading”, “malicious” and “divisive”. Police reportedly registered an FIR in the matter after receiving directions from election authorities.
Both videos were posted on BJP’s X handles and other social media platforms with such impunity that it would force any observer to question the level playing ground in the election process, let alone worry about the openly communal political campaign.
But more importantly, the business-as-usual approach shown by the EC in such matters in one election after another, especially when it should know that such videos are not merely posted on official handles but also circulated widely on unofficial channels, merely tells you how much the system of checks and balances established by the model code of conduct has become obsolete.
That the biggest party in the world has to resort to such low levels to win elections isn’t a surprise anymore, given the way the BJP has outdone itself in its anti-Muslim rhetoric in every successive election. However, this surely concerns many who believe that a free and fair election process is the most legitimate way to sustain Indian democracy, however uneven it may have been.
The EC eventually sent a directive to its state poll chief on November 17 to take down the video depicting Muslims as squatters, but not before it was widely circulated and became a polarising talking point. It also sought an “explanation” from the state BJP for violating the model code of conduct.
Sending notices without any punitive action against the BJP has only emboldened it to carry on with its blatantly communal campaigns. The EC’s own lacklustre actions in such cases have raised questions about the institution’s integrity like never before.
While the BJP circulated such videos in Jharkhand, it gave a clarion call to the Hindu electorate to “unite” in Maharashtra in a similar video that showed Muslims as “attackers” and “infiltrators” – a video that may be easily seen as its most ideologically charged until date.
The saffron party’s recent slogans “batenge toh katenge” or “ek hai toh safe hai” are being misleadingly spun by the BJP as appeals to people for larger unity, but anyone knows that such slogans were borne out of hate speech by leaders like Adityanath and Himanta Biswa Sarma, who carried out sustained and unambiguous campaigns against Muslims during the run-up to the assembly polls in Jharkhand and Maharashtra, and also bypolls in 50 constituencies.
The EC’s lack of enthusiasm in tightening the screws on such hateful campaigns can only draw exasperated responses in such a polarised political climate and encourage cynicism in the whole election process.
What would require the EC to implement its own model code of conduct?
The model code of conduct clearly says, “No party or candidate shall include in any activity which may aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension between different castes and communities, religious or linguistic.”
“There shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes. Mosques, Churches, Temples or other places of worship shall not be used as a forum for election propaganda,” the rules further add.
The way the BJP’s Jharkhand and Maharashtra campaigns have unfolded doesn’t merely indicate violations of the model code but a crushing blow to the values of the constitution.
The painfully bureaucratic process to register complaints and draw out responses from the EC at a time when the ruling party has shown no hesitation to violate the model code of conduct needs to be immediately addressed.
Expecting that the BJP will show self-restraint may be too much wishful thinking, given its record over the last decade when even the prime minister has not hesitated to project Indian Muslims in poor light, even when he and his party have ostensibly justified those remarks as targeting the Congress or any other opposition party.
Given how it is already an alarming situation, the EC really needs to show us its institutional spine rather than resort to the copybook of sending notices and seeking explanations, especially when the violators of model code have interpreted such shaming as just recourse to indulge in more violations.
Will the EC step up its efforts to give a clear restraining signal to the BJP? At the moment, it seems so unlikely that it may well be a hopeful fantasy.
