I.N.D.I.A.’s ‘good Hindu wives’ could have BJP cornered

With the Lok Sabha elections less than a month away, the clock is ticking as parties scramble to hammer down or break alliances, toss out last-minute guarantees and promises, and organise rallies. Above all the din, just like in every election in India, votes will be cast based on which emotive narrative spun by the parties has the most impact. 

Until recently, the I.N.D.I.A. bloc was floundering while 'Modi ka parivaar' seemed to be steaming ahead with their vision of India of a development-oriented Ram Rajya. In contrast, I.N.D.I.A. bloc's 'Nyay' angle and caste census ‘x-ray' played like a convoluted mishmash of messaging. 

Even the electoral bonds did not have the anticipated emotional impact; it was nothing like the 'Ram Lalla' coming home. Publishing the names and amounts of those who ‘donated’ to political parties turned out to be mere stats. Numbers appeal to the logical mind, but it has very little to do with how a majority of us Indians vote.

But then, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) overplayed its hand. Whether out of the sheer need to leave nothing to chance or nervousness that belied that outward confidence of ‘Ab ki baar, 400 paar’, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on March 21 in connection with the excise policy-linked money laundering case. 

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)'s Hemant Soren was already in ED custody after he resigned as the Jharkhand Chief Minister. For a while now Opposition leaders have been alleging that the ruling BJP has been unleashing central agencies on them, but the line was crossed when a sitting Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, was arrested.

Over the past few months, the BJP has crossed many lines, shaping public institutions and laws to suit its electoral aspirations. Yet, why was this the line that mattered?

On March 31, Arvind Kejriwal’s wife, Sunita Kejriwal, and Hemant Soren’s wife, Kalpana Soren, were front and centre at the I.N.D.I.A. rally, making a strong call for defeating the ruling BJP in the Lok Sabha polls.

The day before, Kalpana Soren made a strategic stop to meet Sunita Kejriwal. The pictures of the two wives, their husbands in jail, hugging in solidarity, vowing to fight together, would have struck an emotional chord with the Indian voter, irrespective of their political leanings.

Both Sunita Kejriwal and Kalpana Soren told voters during the I.N.D.I.A. rally that freedom and democracy were once more at stake; and that the Constitution of India was at stake. In her speech, Sunita Kejriwal referred to her husband as a ‘patriot’ and a ‘lion’ who no one could keep in jail because he was an honest man intent on serving the people. She also read her husband’s words from behind bars, mirroring the pathos of the empty chairs kept on stage for Arvind Kejriwal and Hemant Soren.

Kalpana Soren, on the other hand, blasted the autocratic forces attacking democracy, invoking the tribal activist roots of both JMM as a party and the Soren family. Accusing the NDA government of ‘destroying’ the Constitution and the guarantees for tribals enshrined within, she called out BJP wielding ‘absolute power’ forgetting the ‘real power’ of voters to save democracy and the country.

Earlier, AAP had divided its messaging into two distinct categories — Sunita Kejriwal as the emotive face of the party, delivering her husband’s message from the ED’s custody and Delhi Minister Atishi as the more official face of the AAP government in Delhi. Keeping Sunita Kejriwal separate from the mundane governance and politics, she was elevated as Arvind Kejriwal’s ‘shakti’ on the warpath — the good Indian wife stepping in to protect her husband.

Like Sunita Kejriwal, Kalpana Soren had also stayed in the shadow of her husband before stepping onto the political stage. The entry was marked by her seeking the blessings of her in-laws — the perfect ‘bahu’. Her appeal to sway the masses was far more than other veteran JMM leaders, including the far more politically savvy Sita Soren, Hemant Soren's sister-in-law, who left the party in a huff to join BJP as Kalpana Soren took centre stage in the party’s messaging for the elections.

Hindu mythology and folklore are replete with stories of loyal wives, in a long line from Harishchandra's wife Taramati to Ram's wife Sita, from Sati to Savitri.

As both Sunita Kejriwal and Kalpana Soren take centre-stage, the I.N.D.I.A. bloc finally has the emotive issue it needs to sway sentiments, rather than just statistics.

It is a late game-changer, if and only if the I.N.D.I.A. bloc can make the most of it. 

India, the land of casual misogyny, has one pedestal for women that it will never uproot — that of the pativrata stree.

For all the talk of nari raksha and Shakti, the BJP might have fallen foul of this trope and it may be too late to course correct.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.