Opinion Secular PM?

The Panchjanya editorial,incidentally,does not mention Nitish at all but described secularism as a “political tool” first perfected by the Congress that got “many other political parties and their leaders” competing with each other to perfect the art. The article criticises the Congress and Mulayam Singh Yadav,but has avoided naming Nitish,despite the fact that the debate was initiated at the behest of the Bihar CM. The editorial questions if it would be wrong for India to have a PM and a government that is concerned about the interests of the majority Hindus,a point highlighted by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat recently.

But the article in Organiser names Nitish and calls his statement a “treacherous attempt” to “isolate” the BJP and RSS and suggests that the BJP not pander to the Bihar CM on the grounds that “presenting a liberal face for blunting Muslim opposition is a foolish idea”,while sticking to “its core ideology of non-appeasement” benefits the saffron party “immensely”. The article points to some electoral results — including Rajiv Gandhi’s 1984 election victory as an outcome of the “Hindu reaction to the killing of the then prime minister by Sikh extremists” among others — to justify its standpoint.

The demand for a secular leader is not just an anachronistic idea but a smokescreen for (the) pursuit of old-style votebank politics. (The) pursuit of such politics may be the pathological compulsion of some parties,but their appeal in contemporary politics is limited as even Muslims are realising the self-serving designs of political leaders,” the article claims,asserting that the “anti-Narendra Modi” campaign would “consolidate the Hindu votes in favour of the BJP” during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Presidential election

WHILE the “secular” PM demand seems to get priority over the presidential elections in the RSS journals,the issue of the election to the highest office of the country has the Organiser interested,with a special focus article that describes the BJP’s support to P.A. Sangma’s candidature as a “relief” to the “developments of… support for the Congress candidate”,Pranab Mukherjee.

The article claims that it was “mechinisation [sic by the Congress” to “tighten the screws” on Mulayam Singh Yadav to fall in line in support of their presidential candidate. “That being the way (the) Congress has managed support from its allies and non-allies,the party thinks that the election of Pranab Mukherjee to the president’s office is a foregone conclusion,” it says,praising Mamata Banerjee for not playing ball with the Congress on this. It concludes the elections as a test of whether “the politics of money power,blackmail and insidious campaigns gain an upper hand against democratic principles”.

New Congress

BOTH journals have shown a special interest in reporting the recent Andhra Pradesh bypolls,where the YSR Congress decimated the ruling Congress by winning 15 of 18 assembly seats and the lone Lok Sabha seat in the election.

Articles in both Organiser and Panchjanya examine how the Congress lost its deposit in six seats,while the principal opposition lost its deposit in five. The articles look at other statistics to point out that the YSR Congress is now “elbowing out” the TDP in the state and conclude that “if the current swing in (YSR chief) Jagan Mohan (Reddy)’s favour continues unabated,the YSR Congress will soon replace the official Congress”.

Another article on the presidential polls in Organiser has lauded the YSR Congress chief Reddy by contrasting him with leaders like Mulayam and Mayawati in refusing to “play ball with Congress” on the presidential election so far,despite having been “embroiled in a series of CBI cases”.

Compiled by Ravish Tiwari