The free use of religion in the seeking of votes for a political cause has been a feature of the series of Assembly polls considered the semi-final before the 2019 general elections. To the lay public, these arguments must seem bizarre, particularly when leaders are delving into a mythical past to trigger debates about the gotra and caste of Lord Hanuman and so on. Yogi Adityanath, a past master at the art of leveraging the majority religion in politics, has invoked Lord Ram and other personalities from the epic Ramayan. It is risible that arguments are being heard over whether Hanuman was a dalit in this age, thousands of years past the era in which Lord Ram was said to have lived. Adityanath may have said so in an obvious effort to garner dalit votes as the BJP is clearly struggling to retain the dailt votes that swayed the 2014 national elections in its favour.
There are laws governing elections regarding the use of religion being prohibited in canvassing votes, but if they were to be enforced, politicians of all hues would have to be sequestered. For instance, Congress president Rahul Gandhi has challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s knowledge of Hinduism while taking up the name of the Hindu holy book of Bhagavad Gita. In retaliation, the BJP mocks him for his claims of gotra and his temple visits. It is distressing to note that things have descended to such a low level in this round of elections that nothing is too “neech” as they say to describe plumbing the depths in public political discourse. It is moot whether this kind of jousting with gods, caste as in claims being made that Hanuman was a tribal or even a brahmin, and religion, which also figures in manifestoes for sops, will lead the country in a positive direction.
