'Vote Jihad': How Muslim Hate Was Sold in a New Package in Maharashtra Elections

Video Editor: Kriti Saxena

The campaigning for Maharashtra elections concluded on Monday, 18 November, with the usual Muslim hatred being sold in a fresh new package called 'vote jihad'.

More than Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath's 'batenge toh katenge' (slaughtered if divided) or PM Narendra Modi's 'ek hain toh safe hain (we are safe while we are united), 'vote jihad' was the highest selling hate-product in the election rallies of Maharashtra.

Over the past six weeks, Devendra Fadnavis, deputy chief minister and home minister of Maharashtra repeatedly claimed 'vote jihad' as one of the key reasons for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) winning just nine out of the 23 seats it contested in the Lok Sabha elections, and has been urging voters to not let it repeat in the Assembly elections.

Last week, he also called the election a 'dharam yudh' against vote jihad.

Statements like these, when they come from repeat offenders like Suresh Chavanke or Kajal Hindustani are not new, but it's another thing when the deputy CM, who's also the home minister of Maharashtra, makes such unsubstantiated claims.

'Love Jihad, Land Jihad, Vote Jihad'

Two weeks before the elections were declared in October, Fadnavis in a speech in Kolhapur claimed that over 1 lakh complaints of love jihad have been noticed. He said that while he is not against inter-religious marriages, there is a conspiracy to "spoil" Hindu women.

In the same speech, he also claimed that 'vote jihad' cost the BJP 14 seats. Claims around vote jihad have been repeated by him in several recent interviews to top journalists. In the last week of campaigning, his comments on Aurangzeb and claims of recapturing Pakistan also made headlines.

Yogi Adityanath's 'batenge toh katenge' statement faced backlash from some of BJP's own allies in the state, including NCP's Ajit Pawar, Ashok Chavan, who recently switched from the Congress to the BJP, and even Pankaja Munde. Fadnavis tried to explain that it was in fact, a message of unity that was being misunderstood.

BJP leader and Kanvavli MLA Nitesh Rane, who currently faces at least six FIRs for hate speeches across Maharashtra also repeated that vote jihad "will not be allowed" in the Assembly elections like it happened in Lok Sabha.

The claims of vote jihad got further ammunition last week when Maulana Sajjad Nomani, spokesperson of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, released a list of constituencies to urge Muslims to vote for the Opposition. 

How Much Did Consolidation Really Dent BJP?

There is no doubt in the fact that in Maharashtra, the consolidation of Maratha, Dalit, and Muslim votes in the favour of the Opposition dented the BJP is several seats in the Lok Sabha elections. But in a democracy like India, can communities be vilified for their choices to vote against a party or a coalition whose leaders have blatantly hurt their religious sentiments on several occasions?

More importantly, was the consolidation of these communities the only reason for the ruling Mahayuti's poor performance in the Lok Sabha Beyond all these narratives, if one looks at some facts, consolidation was just one of the reasons.

Several issues like 73% of the state reeling under drought, no MSP for cotton and soyabean crops which are the primary crops grown in Vidarbha and Marthawada where the Mahayuti and the BJP faced the maximum damage, export ban on onions along with 40% duty hitting their market prices, politics of breaking parties boosting the sympathy of Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray, and undoubtedly, consolidation of Marathas against the BJP while demanding reservation from the OBC quota were some of the few key reasons that led to the NDA's poor performance in the state in the Lok Sabha elections.

Scores of BJP leaders, including leaders of the RSS, have spoken about voters being irked by the BJP's alliance with the Ajit-Pawar NCP as well. Among the Dalit voters, the Opposition drove the narrative that a BJP majority will lead to changing of BR Ambedkar's Constitution.

But for the Mahayuti, it is easier to blame minorities like Muslims and Christians whose votes you know you already don't have, than blaming the majority communities like the Marathas and the farmers of the state, who form 28% and 55% of the state's voters respectively, and without whose votes no party can be in power.

The Usual Hate-Mongers Continued Their Tirades

Speaking of some other non-constitutional position-holding players — Suresh Chavanke, a regular speaker at rallies organised by Sakal Hindu Samaj, an umbrella body of Hindutva outfits, has been on a tirade of love jihad and land jihad claims.

A few days ago, he also walked along Mumbai's Marine drive and pointed at Muslim families and individuals sitting there claiming 'capturing of public spaces'.

References to Muslim-majority areas as Pakistan, Christians attempting to convert Hindus are very common in his speeches. This time in Maharashtra, he also attacked the queer community, saying that it is against the Hindu family system.

Most of Kajal Hindustani's speeches at events organised by Sakal Hindu Samaj alsp peddled similar narratives as Chavanke —like Muslims wanting to convert India to an Islamic nation before 100 years of Idependence, or calling out actor Saif Ali Khan for 'resorting to love jihad.'

Figures like these and the statements they made eventually also led to polarising figures like Akbaruddin Owaisi making open jibes in reference to their own hate speech from the past.

Meanwhile, another sitting CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has openly given hate speeches in Jharkhand. (Read the detailed report by Aliza Noor here).

So, as is the story in every election, hate was used as a blatant weapon to polarise, and if Lok Sabha elections are any lesson, it will only lead to consolidation on both sides. Who will it benefit? That shal be clear on 23 November.