Now that the first step towards a uniform civil code has been taken with the passage of the Triple Talaq Bill, and Article 370 has effectively gone, can the construction of a Ram mandir in Ayodhya be far behind?
BJP circles believe that the temple is up next, as Modi 2.0 moves methodically to implement the party’s ‘core agenda’, which has been hanging fire for decades, and has figured in every election manifesto.
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The three issues of uniform civil code, Article 370, and the Ram mandir are the pillars of the BJP’s Hindutva plank and integral to the larger ‘Hindu Rashtra’ vision of the RSS.
Modi has ticked two of the boxes in the very first Parliament session of his second term. With the Supreme Court fast-tracking the hearing on the Ayodhya case through daily hearings, it could well be just a matter of time before he succeeds in ticking the third box too.
The Modi-Shah ‘To-Do List’
But Modi’s To-Do List for his new tenure doesn’t end here. Another big-ticket item is the passage of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill and the creation of a National Register of Citizens throughout the country, not just in Assam, to weed out “illegal migrants’’ (read: Bangladeshis).
The government had hoped to push this through in the just-concluded budget session, but it was forced to hold back because it seems the spade-work for this isn’t complete. There are strong objections from the northeastern states including Assam, and the BJP is still in discussion with stakeholders there to persuade them to come on board.
BJP President Amit Shah made the NRC a key issue in the party’s 2019 election campaign, and reiterated his determination in Parliament as Home Minister, to rid “every inch of the country’’ of illegal immigrants by deporting them.
Thundering words, but before Shah goes ahead with the NRC, he must get the Citizenship Bill passed by Parliament.
This is necessary, otherwise Hindu migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan and other countries will also have to be deported as “illegal’’ entrants.
‘Numbers Game’ in Parliament: How The Opposition Made It Easy For BJP
This is where numbers in Parliament become critical. With 303 seats of its own in the Lok Sabha plus 50 more of its NDA partners, the government is in a commanding position in the Lower House. The problem is the Rajya Sabha, where the BJP has only 73 MPs, and has to depend on NDA members and friendly parties like the Biju Janata Dal, AIADMK and YSR Congress, to make up the shortfall every time a bill has to be passed.
The numbers game was in full play in the budget session, with the government concentrating its energies on stacking up support for itself from day one.
According to a highly-placed source in the BJP, it hopes to complete the process by next year after the biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha are over, around mid-2020.
By then, maintained the leader, the BJP hopes to have a majority on its own and reduce its dependence on other parties.
The machinations were almost diabolical. But the Opposition made it easy for the government. It collapsed like a pack of cards in the face of the BJP’s determined onslaught. The Congress is leaderless after Rahul Gandhi’s resignation. Members of other opposition regional parties like BSP, SP and RJD are thoroughly demoralised by their disappointing performance in the elections. And then there are state parties like TRS, YSR Congress and BJD who want to keep on the right side of the government at the Centre, although they rule the roost in their states and face no imminent political threat.
How BJP Exploited Fault Lines In The Opposition
The BJP exploited the fault lines shrewdly and cut through the Opposition like a hot knife through butter. MPs flocked to the BJP in a steady trickle. Four MPs of Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP were the first to cross the floor. And then came the rest. The Congress scattered with its chief whip in the Rajya Sabha, B Kalita, and high profile leader from Amethi, Sanjay Singh, quitting within days of each other. Two MPs from the Northeast also went missing as did some others.
SP proved easy meat too. Its MP, Niraj Shekhar, resigned to make the numbers game easier for the BJP, and three more absented themselves during the voting of crucial bills like the RTI (amendment) Act, the Triple Talaq Bill, and the amendment to the Unlawful Atrocities Prevention Act (UAPA). All are said to be on their way to joining the BJP.
There was strategic absenteeism from other parties as well, which created so much confusion in the opposition ranks that they had no idea about their strength.
In the end, the Opposition failed to put up resistance, and the government won the day every time, of course, with a little help from friends like BJD, TRS, YSRC ad AIADMK.
It is now evident that the manoeuvres for the passage of the first three bills were a dress rehearsal for the big prize: the scrapping of Article 370.
It is ironic that most regional parties, which have made federalism the bedrock of their politics, succumbed without a murmur to the Hindu nationalist sentiment underlying the move, and voted with both hands in favour of the government’s decision.
BJP’s March Towards Crossing ‘123’ Mark
As the curtain came down on the budget session, the Opposition was in tatters. And the BJP fully intends to exploit this in the period leading up to the winter session. A senior BJP leader disclosed that talks were on with several other Opposition MPs in the Rajya Sabha. The party hopes to close the deal during the inter-session period so that when the Parliament meets again, the BJP will have inched its way closer to the 100-MP mark.
It hopes to complete the process of crossing the majority mark of 123 by mid-2020.
Once that is done, there will be no holding back. BJP circles maintain that if necessary, the government can even bring in a legislation to build the temple at Ayodhya, and complete the “core agenda’’.
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(The writer is a Delhi-based senior journalist. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)
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