Amlendu Bhushan Khan
With Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde tendering his apology in the Lok Sabha for his reported remarks, which he claimed were “distorted”, the controversy and standoff in the House came to an end. Initially, when the minister stood up to speak, he only offered clarification on his remarks pertaining to secularism, Constitution and Bhim Rao Ambedkar.
But with a nudge from Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, he offered his apology, though he claimed that his speech at a function in Karnataka was distorted. As soon as the House assembled, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge sought to raise the issue of Hegde’s controversial remarks on secularism and changing the Constitution, but the speaker prevented him saying the minister of state for skill development would make a statement.
The controversy of Hegde is pre planned manner. The Congress on Tuesday condemned the statement of BJP leader and Union Minister Anant Kumar Hegde about changing the Constitution. The party said that the remarks by a Central Minister have exposed the sole agenda of the ruling party, which was to change the basic structure of the Constitution. The Congress mentioned that such remarks are against the idea and ideals of India.
The Congress said that it would resist any attempt to change the basic nature of the Constitution and fight the BJP tooth and nail. AICC spokesperson Gaurav Gogoi said the statements made by the various Union Ministers of Modi Government thoroughly vindicate the malicious and sinister attempts to alter the ethos of the Constitution.
“It is not a secret that the RSS and the BJP’s sole agenda is to change and modify the basic nature and structure of the Constitution and to impose their hate-filled, bigoted and prejudiced ideology on India and its people.
Congress strongly condemns and deprecates such regressive remarks, which are against the idea and ideals of India,” Gogoi said at AICC Press briefing.
“Will the Prime Minister break his silence on the remarks by his Minister. The BJP-RSS school of thought is engrained in bigotry, hate, divisiveness and prejudices, that envision a monolithic culture. Its diametrically opposite to the liberal and inclusive traditions of India and the progressive thoughts of the Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Makers of Modern India. Therefore we take strong exception of this remark,” said the Congress.
Gogoi, Lok Sabha MP from Assam, said in the past BJP and its leaders have systematically insulted professionals and communities.
“Be it the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi calling the Chartered Accountant community as “Chor” (thieves) or him calling the media fraternity as “Bazaroo” or be it his Ministers calling farmers as “Cowards”— There is a definite pattern by which BJP and its leadership has flouted all unwritten norms of civility and attacked groups, communities, professionals and alike,” Gogoi said.
Minister of State for Employment and Skill Development Anantkumar Hegde on Sunday claimed that secular people do not have an “identity of their parental blood”, adding that the Constitution needs to be amended, reported.
Hegde was speaking at an event in Yelburga taluk of Koppal district of Karnataka. “Those claiming to be secular and progressive do not have an identity of their parents and their blood,” as saying. “I will be happy if someone identifies as Muslim, Christian, Brahmin, Lingayat or Hindu. But trouble will arise if they say they are secular.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party leader said the Constitution is currently based on the thoughts of BR Ambedkar. “I respect the Constitution, but the Constitution has changed according to the times on many occasions in the past and it will change in the future. We are here to change the Constitution,” Hegde said,
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah criticised the Union minister’s statement, saying his comments exposed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s views on Ambedkar. “I do not want to stoop to his level,” Siddaramaiah said,
“We know our language and culture. He is a Union minister, but spits venom.”Hegde’s comments come months ahead of the Assembly elections in the state. The Karnataka Assembly’s tenure ends in May 2018.
In November, Hegde had stirred a controversy after he said that if the Karnataka chief minister could celebrate Tipu Jayanti, people would soon start celebrating “Ajmal Kasab Jayanti”.
Many from the opposition have come down heavily on Union minister Anantkumar Hegde’s assertion that his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, has come to power to “ to change the constitution” and remove the “word secular” from it, saying that this is the age-old divisive agenda of the Sangh parivar.
Speaking at an event organised by one Brahman Yuva Parishad in Koppal district of Karnataka, the employment and skill development minister kicked up a row on Monday when he said “A few people say the constitution mentions the word secular, so you have to agree. Because it’s there in the constitution, we will respect it, but this will change in the near future. The constitution has changed many times before. We are here and have come to change the constitution. We will change it.”
He went on to contemptuously add, “There is a new culture now of secularists. If someone says I am a Muslim, or I am a Christian, or I am a Lingayat, or I am a Hindu, I feel very happy because he knows his roots. But these people who call themselves secularists, I don’t know what to call them. They are like people without parentage or who don’t know their bloodline. They don’t know themselves. They don’t know their parents, but they call themselves secular. If someone says I am secular, I get suspicious. I hope there are no secularists here.”
Responding to this, Manoj Kumar Jha, the national spokesperson of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, told The Wire, “Mr Hegde is one of the poster boys of right-wing authoritarianism of the Hindutva forces and has simply uttered the intent of the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) as declared by its ideologue M.S. Golwalkar in Bunch of Thoughts. Mr Hegde has only uncovered the latent desire of RSS and it must be seen as a warning signal for the citizens, political parties and civil society that the regime poses a massive threat to the idea of India and the spirit behind ‘We the People’ as enshrined in the preamble to the constitution of India.”
Earlier in the day, Jha took to Twitter to attack Hegde’s statement questioning the parentage of secularists.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Vijoo Krishnan, who belongs to Karnataka, was of the opinion that Hegde was only following the BJP’s central leadership’s diktats.
“Both Hegde and Prathap Simha, BJP MP from Mysore, have been trying to make polarising statements for sometime now. Clearly, there is an attempt by the BJP to deliberately communalise politics in Karnataka before the next assembly elections,” he said.
“A conversation was also leaked in the media recently which showed BJP president Amit Shah was allegedly telling Simha and Hegde to organise militant protests all around the state of Karnataka. The leaders have used occasions like Hanuman Jayanti and Tipu Sultan’s Jayanti to polarise the electorate on religious lines. Similarly, the saffron party has been trying to rake up rises in syncrestic like Baba Budangiri. All this is being done with election (scheduled for early 2018) in mind. After Gujarat elections, the BJP has perhaps understood that religious polarisation and stoking anti-Muslim sentiment among Hindus are its best bet,” he added.
Similarly, in an angry remark, Karnataka chief minister and senior Congress leader, Siddaramaiah called Hegde a “messenger of hate” and alleged that he has been polarising people on religious lines ahead of the state assembly elections.
“He has not learnt the social conditions of the country. Since he is a Manuwadi, (follower of ancient text Manusmriti, which codifies caste practices and punishments), he doesn’t respect the Indian constitution,” the cheif minister said, alleging that Hegde was only trying to glorify Brahmins and other upper-caste groups while ignoring marginalised communities.
Terming Hegde’s contributions towards the state as “zero”, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee’s working president Dinesh Gundu Rao said at a press confrence “Five-time MP Mr Hegde was an unknown face before his induction into the Narendra Modi government. What are his contributions to the development of the state? Did he ever speak on Karnataka’s issues in parliament?”
Prakash Ambedkar, the leader of Maharashtra-based political organisation Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh and B.R. Ambedkar’s grandson, saw in Hegde’s statements an assertion of what has been the “RSS’s dream”.Speaking to The Wire, he said, “Ever since the constitution was adopted, the RSS has always been of the opinion that it should be changed. So Hegde’s statements are not surprising. Even before independence, the RSS dreamed that once the British go away, they can have a Manuvadi system and varnasrama dharma can be imposed.”
“If anybody reads the history between 1946 and 1950, when the constitution was being drafted, the RSS can be clearly seen as commenting negatively on all principles that ensured equality and brotherhood. Be it the adoption of parliamentary democracy or the state’s decision to have no religion, the RSS was opposed to all such clauses. It celebrated our independence day as a black day. If one sees a government resolution of July 26, 1949, one can see an agreement between the then home minister Sardar Patel and RSS chief Golwalkar. The resolution shows that Golwalkar had reluctantly accepted in writing to abide by the Indian constitution. We all know that it was banned after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. So, the RSS agreed to Patel’s conditions only to get the ban on it removed,” he added.
Hegde’s comments have clearly brought back controversies which have plagued the Sangh parivar since independence. He had also kicked up a controversy in 2016 when he equated “Islam” with “terrorism”. He was arrested following that in a hate speech case. Referring to Islam, he had said that terrorism will only be eradicated if certain religions were “eradicated”, adding that “Islam” and “peace” were opposites.
The BJP today distanced itself from union minister Anantkumar Hegde’s remarks that the party will change the Constitution and remove the word “secular” from it. “The party doesn’t want to get involved with what Hegde has said. What he spoke about is not an issue for us,” BJP spokesperson for Karnataka Vamanacharya said in Bengaluru.
The Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship had on Monday said the party was in power to “change the Constitution”.
“People agree with the word secular as it is mentioned in the Constitution. It has changed many times before and we have come to change the Constitution,” Mr Hegde said at an event in Kuknur in Koppal district, 400 km to the north of the state capital.
Those who call themselves secular are like people “without parentage”, the minister had said.
“If someone says I’m a Muslim, Christian, Lingayat, Brahmin or a Hindu, I feel happy because they know their roots. For those calling themselves secularists, I don’t know what to call them,” the 49-year-old minister said.
Calling Mr Hegde’s statements “disparaging”, the Congress’s state unit said the BJP was “denigrating the ideals” on which the Constitution is based.
“Our country is built on the ideals of secularism and co-existence of people of all castes, creeds, races and religions. Our Constitution is based on ideals, which the BJP is denigrating by allowing Hegde to make such disparaging statements,” said Karnataka Congress working president Dinesh Gundu Rao.
Mr Hegde, a resident of Sirsi in Uttara Kannada district, 400 km to the northwest of Bengaluru, was appointed union minister in September after a cabinet reshuffle.
He has been a Lok Sabha lawmaker from Uttara Kannada constituency for five terms.
When B S Yeddyurappa of the Bharatiya Janata Party was dumped by the Janata Dal-Secular barely a week after he assumed power, it was said it was not just a betrayal for the party, but of the entire Lingayat community.
The Lingayat community from which Yeddyurappa hails declared war against the JD-S which is headed by a Vokkaliga leader, terming it as the biggest betrayal of their lives. Amidst all the muck and drama of the worst ever political crisis witnessed by Karnataka, one thing became very clear — caste equations would play and important role in the assembly election.
H D Deve Gowda, former prime minister and JD-S chieftain, saw that the support for Yeddyurappa was growing leaps and bounds. Initially Gowda took it easy as he had M P Prakash, a strong Lingayat leader, in his ranks. However, with Prakash parting ways and joining the Congress, Gowda realised that it was time he too used the caste card. Gowda decided to use the Vokkaliga card while making it clear that his community would rally behind the JD-S. The Congress too sensed that the elections would largely be fought on the caste factor and roped in S M Krishna, also a Vokkaliga leader, at the last minute.
At present in Karnataka, if one takes a close look at the manner in which the tickets are being distributed, it is clear that caste is being considered while handing out tickets.
The Lingayats and the Vokkaligas have been dominant in Karnataka since time immemorial and the tussle for power between these two communities is no secret. Karnataka has till date had five chief ministers from the Vokkaliga community, and six have been Lingayats. There were three CMs from the backward classes while Brahmins managed to hold the top spot in Karnataka twice. These statistics clearly show the dominance of both the Vokkaligas and Lingayats in Karnataka.
It is now evident that it these two communities will tip the scales once again in the forthcoming assembly elections. The Vokkaligas, who comprise 15 per cent of the 5 crore-odd population of Karnataka, are spread mainly across Bangalore, Mandya, Hassan, Mysore, Kolar and Chikamagalur. The Lingayats comprise 17 per cent of the population of Karnataka and are dominant in the central and northern parts of Karnataka.
The Dalits in Karnataka comprise 23 per cent of the population, Kurubas 8 per cent while the Muslims make up 10 per cent. The rest of the population comprises Christians and others.
Though the Dalits outnumber the Lingayats and Vokkaligas, it is the two communities that matter in the state’s politics.
Over a period of time, it has been noticed that the Vokkaligas and the Lingayats vote for a leader and not a party. So if a chief ministerial candidate is from their community, they will vote for that person’s party.
Moreover, there is a fear among both communities that the other will try and outsmart them. Hence a constant tussle between the two castes to ensure that their leader gets the top spot.
Taking this into consideration, parties nominate either a Vokkaliga or Lingayat as chief ministerial candidate. However, parties are also well aware that they will have to get their caste equations right.
The JD-S and the BJP, which are relying heavily on Vokkaliga and Lingayat votes, cannot be content doing just that. They will have to do more in order to ensure that some votes from the other castes too trickle in. During the last election, the JD-S wooed voters from the Vokkaliga, Muslim and Kuruba communities. The same combination was used during the 1994 polls which the party won by a huge margin. This combination worked for them in 2004 polls too where they managed over 50 seats in the 224-member assembly.
However, there will be a slight change in strategy this time round. Siddaramaiah, a prominent Kuruba leader, has quit the JD-S. A senior JD-S leader says the strategy to woo the Muslim votes is by portraying Abdul Azeem and Zameer Ahmed as leading candidates in the JD-S.
The BJP on the other hand is being projected as a party of Lingayats. They are aware that there is no competent Lingayat leader in the state other than B S Yeddyurappa. The last of the strong Lingayat leaders in Karnataka politics were J H Patel from the JD-S and Veerendra Patil from the Congress, both of whom went on become chief ministers.
M P Prakash is a part of the Jangam sub-caste of Lingayats which makes up 3 per cent of the community in Karnataka. Jangam basically is a priestly class within the Lingayats and the rest of the community do not identify too much with this sub-caste.
The BJP think-tank says they have realised their blunder during the 2004 elections when Yeddyurappa was not portrayed as the CM candidate. This resulted in several Lingayat voters staying away from the BJP. The BJP fell short of the majority mark by 23 seats. This time the party wants to capitalise on the fact that there is no other strong Lingayat leader in any other party. The BJP also plans to rely on the Brahmin votes. There is also a sizeable population from outside the state, especially in Bangalore and other urban areas. The BJP will try hard to woo them too.
The Congress on the other hand has decided that it would not portray a CM candidate as it would disturb its caste equations. Will it be Krishna, Mallikarjuna Kharge, a Dalit leader, or Siddaramaiah as the next CM if the Congress comes to power? This question even the Congress is not in a position to answer as of now.
The irony of the Congress in Karnataka is that if Kharge is portrayed as the CM candidate then the upper castes are unlikely to vote for them. If Krishna is in the fray then the Dalits will not vote for the party. Siddaramaiah is an assured vote puller in the Kuruba belt and there is a doubt whether he would make an impact with the rest of the electorate.
Krishna was brought in to woo the Bangalore voter, but he also has a very important job on hand. Since he is a Vokkaliga, a major chunk of the responsibility for breaking the vote bank away from the JD-S would be on him.
The Congress is also battling hard with the JD-S to grab a share of the Muslim votes, and plans to use the services of former Union ministers C K Jaffer Sharief and C M Ibrahim for the sam