Deepfakes, a possible alteration of the Constitution, vote jihad, and minority quota ruled pre-poll campaign trails for most political parties for the Lok Sabha Elections Phase 3.
Let’s take a look
Vote Jihad
At a recent campaign in Gujarat, Prime Minister and BJP leader Narendra Modi said, “INDI Alliance is asking Muslims to do ‘vote jihad’. This is new because we have so far heard about ‘love jihad’ and ‘land jihad’,” said Modi, referring to a string of Islamophobic conspiracy theories, before emphasising to his audience why they needed to be fearful. “I hope you all know what the meaning of jihad is and against whom it is waged,”
This statement came after Samajwadi Party leader Maria Alam, while addressing a gathering in Uttar Pradesh, urged Muslim voters in India to carry out ‘Jihad’ of ‘votes’ as the ‘only’ method to usurp PM Modi.
The use of the word sparked a row, following which Maria Alam clarified that ‘Jihad’ is an Arabic word for struggle and that she had been encouraging Muslims to vote in more significant numbers.
Minority Quota
Prime Minister Modi has been vocal in accusing the Congress of being anti-backward class, alleging that the opposition party opposes Dalits and other Backward Classes. He claimed during election rallies that if the Congress were to assume power, it might “rob” OBCs of their reservation benefits to allocate them to the Muslim minority.
Stressing this rhetoric, BJP leaders and, especially, PM Modi have said that Congress will take away the mangalsutra of Hindu women to distribute it among Muslims.
The ruling party is under scrutiny by both the Congress and the opposition, who claim that their aim of securing over 400 seats in the election is tied to altering the Constitution. They fear such a majority could pave the way for the ruling party to revoke reservation benefits for SC, ST, and OBC communities. This concern stems from the historical opposition to reservations by the RSS, the ideological backbone of the ruling BJP.
Constitution change
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and others have been asserting that the NDA under PM Modi’s leadership could amend the Constitution if re-elected. During a recent rally, Gandhi warned that the BJP, if given another term, might “tear apart and throw away” the Constitution, jeopardizing the rights of the poor, Dalits, Scheduled Tribes, and other backward classes.
To counter the claim PM Modi’s social media handles had posted a video clip with a caption “for me, the Constitution is sacred. It is supreme.” The video opens with Modi saying the Constitution is a “holy book” for him and that he was the only Chief Minister who celebrated the 60 years of the Indian Constitution.
Apart from PM Modi and Rahul Gandhi, prominent figures like Nationalist Congress Party (SP)’s Sharad Pawar have been utilizing the Constitution to emphasise their political arguments in the run up to the Lok Sabha Elections Phase 3.
The arguments on both sides revolve around reservation and tap into insecurities and apprehensions across the caste divide — framed in the larger context of the Constitution which guarantees equality and reservation.
Anti-Muslim debate
Increasing anecdotes have been emerging from the saffron camp, which states that Muslims in India are giving birth to more kids to surpass Hindus in population. While Government data have shown that the fertility rate in the Muslim population has been dwindling, It is also noteworthy that Muslims constitute only 15% of India’s total population.
During a recent campaign event, Modi drew criticism for likening the Muslim community to “infiltrators,” referring to them as “those who have more children.” His remarks sparked intense backlash, prompting 20,000 citizens to petition the Election Commission of India to address the allegations of hate speech against Modi.
Further, on April 30, BJP posted an animated campaign video on Instagram that depicted historical scenes of aggressive Muslim male raiders pillaging wealth from medieval India. The footage stirred controversy as it portrayed Modi as the rescuer who restored order to the nation amidst the chaos.
While former Congress Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said 18 years ago that disadvantaged Indian communities, including Muslims, should have first access to national resources, the Congress campaign manifesto does not make any reference to taking wealth away from one community to give it to any other group.
Experts and analysts have been worried that the anti-Muslim voice in the BJP camp has been shriller and is perpetuating hate even from the podium of the party ruling the government in a democracy.
Deepfakes
Union Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah’s doctored video, Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh, Aamir Khan’s deepfake video, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s deepfake video garnered much attention from voters and the police, marking the need for stricter guardrails.
The deepfakes videos of Ranveer Singh and Aamir Khan shows the Bollywood actors criticising PM Modi and endorsing Congress amid the Lok Sabha Elections.
Meanwhile, Amit Shah’s video showed the Union Home Minister during an election rally in Telangana saying that BJP would end SC, ST, OBC reservation system.
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Published: 05 May 2024, 12:35 PM IST