Notes for Recent Developments in Indian Politics (Ch-9 NCERT CBSE)

Since I spent too much time making notes for this chapter, I might as well upload it.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN INDIAN POLITICS

TIMELINE

1978- Backward and Minority Communities Employees Federation (BAMCEF) was formed.

1980- BJP was formed by the supporters of erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh

1984- Rajiv Gandhi won elections; 415 seats in Lok Sabha

-BSP formed by Kanshi Ram

1985-Shah Bano Case

1986-Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act was passed.

Faizabad District Court ordered unlocking of Babri Masjid so that Hindus can pray

1989- “Congress system” ended; got 197 seats. Came back to power mid-term elections in

1991. - V.P. Singh (National Front) became the PM

1990- Chandra Shekhar (Section of National Front led by Samajwadi Party and supported by Congress)

1991- P.V. Narsimha Rao (Congress supported by regional parties)

-LPG implemented

6 Dec 1992-Demolition of Babri Masjid

Jan 1993- Mumbai communal riots lasting over two weeks

19960- BJP minority government (May 1996-June 1996)

1996-1997-H.D. Deve Gowda (United Front with Congress support) became the PM

1997-1998- I.K. Gujral (United Front with Congress support)

May 1998-June 1999- NDA government formed; Vajpayee becomes PM

June 1999- no confidence motion passed

October 1999- NDA gets re-elected; Vajpayee becomes PM again, this time for full term

Feb-March 2002- A bogey carrying Karsevaks set on fire, 57 people died.

Communal violence in many parts of the country against Muslims, killing nearly 1100 people.

2004- Manmohan Singh (United Progressive Alliance led by Congress) became the PM.

2009-Manmohan Singh got re-elected.

2014 onwards- Narendra Modi (NDA led by BJP) has been the PM since, getting re-elected in 2019.

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Key Terms

National Front- Alliance of Janata Dal and other regional parties.

United Front- Similar to National Front except it was supported by Congress.

NDA- National Democratic Alliance, alliance of BJP and other regional parties.

OBC- Communities other than SC and St who suffer from educational and social backwardness.

Creamy layer- relatively forward and educated members of the OBC

BAMCEF- Backward and Minority Communities Employees Federation, an organization that took a strong stand in favor of political power to the Bahujan, i.e., the SC, ST, OBC and minority. It was founded by Kanshi Ram.

Babri Masjid- 16th Century mosque built by Mir Baqi- Mughal emperor Babur’s General, in Ayodhya. Some Hindus believed it was built by demolishing a temple for Lord Ram’s birthplace.

Karseva- A voluntary service provided by devotees for building Ram temple at Ayodhya.

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Summary

National Front was surviving through external support from BJP and Left Front, two diametrically opposite parties. Since, Congress couldn’t completely recover from the blow received in 1989, and no other party was capable to take it’s place, the system of multi-party rule began. This also means that importance of regional parties increased. Dalit and OBC representation grew, and played an important role in the United Front Government (1996) which was similar to National Front Government except it was supported by Congress and not BJP. In 1989, it was to keep Congress out of power, and in 1996, to keep BJP out. Yet, BJP kept growing stronger and managed to come out as the largest party in 1996, even getting invited to form government at the Centre, but due to lack of political support from other parties and major difference in ideologies, they couldn’t secure majority in Lok Sabha.

NDA formed government in May 1998, till June 1999, only to get re-elected in October 1999.

Let’s go back to the Janata government for a jiffy. Janata Party brought together political parties which shared a strong support from OBC. The debate for reservations back then, caused by the outcomes of Mandal Commission, mobilized OBC in politics, who demanded for fair representation in administration and due share of political power. Thus, a new chapter in politics began.

Mandal Commission

Though reservations were in existence in southern States since 1960s, it was only when Janata Party came to power that the issue was taken into national consideration. Karpoori Thakur, the then CM of Bihar, was a pioneer in this direction, because she introduced OBC reservation policies in Bihar. Following this, the central government appointed a commission in 1978, chaired by Bindeshwari Prasad Mandal (thus the popular name Mandal commission, though the official name given was Second Backward Classes Commission because the first commission was appointed in 1931), to investigate the extent of educational and social backwardness and recommend ways of identifying these classes, and to also give recommendations on ways the backwardness could be ended.

The outcomes were declared in 1980, by then the Janata government had fallen. Outcomes were-

1) Backward classes should be understood to mean backward castes since many castes other than SC were treated just as low in the caste hierarchy.

2) Recommended reserving 27% of seats in educational institutions and government jobs for these groups.

3) Land reforms to improve the conditions of OBC

On 7th August 1990, the National Front government, decided to implement reservation policies throughout the nation causing uprising in the entire nation. Though obviously supported by the OBCs, majority groups resorted to violent protests to convey their dissent. After the famously known ‘Indira Sawhney case’, the Supreme Court gave a ruling upholding government’s decision, though putting a threshold of 50% on reservations and exclusion of ‘creamy layer’.

Political Fallouts

BAMCEF was formed in 1978 by Kanshi Ram, and took a strong stance in favour of political power of the Bahujan. Subsequently, Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was formed, emerged from BAMCEF, under the leadership of Kanshi Ram. It began as a small party supported in Haryana, Punjab and U.P., largely by Dalit voters, but it got its breakthrough or recognition in 1989 and 1991 U.P. assembly elections. Its politics is known as pragmatic politics since Dalits constituted the majority of the population. It has expanded support to other groups.

Communalism, Secularism and Democracy

So, going back to the 1980, when the Janata Dal was struggling to remain in power, BJP emerged through the supporters of erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh. Initially, they adopted a broader political platform, and embraced the concept of Gandhian Socialism as its ideology. On failing in 1980 and 1984 elections, they decided to emphasise the Hindu nationalist ideology, i.e. Hindutva, in its ideology 1986 onwards.

V.D. Savarkar defined Hindutva as the basis of Indian nationhood. So, everyone must accept India not only as their fatherland (pitrubhu) but as their holy land (punyabhu). He believed that a strong nation can only be built on the basis of a strong and united national culture, which can only be provided by Hindu culture in India.

Two developments that became central to the politics of BJP as a ‘Hindutva’ Party were: -

1) Shah Bano Case- 1985

Shah Bano was a 62-year-old Muslim divorcee who filed a case demanding maintenance from her former husband. The Supreme Court ruled in her favour, which caused an uprising among orthodox Muslims since they saw the judgement in interference with Muslim Personal Law. The Congress government passed a Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act (1986) that nullified Supreme Court’s judgement. This offended women’s organisations, intellectuals and progressive Muslims. BJP criticised this action of the Congress government as an unnecessary concession and ‘appeasement’ of the minority community.

2) Ayodhya Dispute

Order by Faizabad District court- February 1986- Babri Masjid premises be unlocked so that Hindus could offer prayers at the site which they consider as a temple.

In 1940s though, the temple was locked up as the matter was with the court. Thus, the 1986 judgement triggered mobilisation of both communities that eventually led to communal tensions and violence. BJP, along with RSS and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) convened a series of symbolic and mobilizational programmes that led to many instances of communal violence. One such instance was the Rathyatra from Somnath in Gujarat to Ayodhya in U.P.

In December 1992, organisations supporting the construction of Ram temple organised a Karseva. The Supreme Court ordered the State government, ruled by BJP, to take care that the disputed site is not to be endangered, yet on 6th December 1992, thousands of Hindus gathered in Ayodhya and demolished the mosque. This led to riots in many parts of the country, even erupting again in Mumbai in January 1993 and lasting for over two weeks.

Consequences of Demolition-

· The State government was dismissed and all the states where BJP was in power was put under President’s Rule.

· A case against the CM of U.P., Kalyan Singh, was registered in the Supreme Court for contempt of court since he had given the undertaking that the disputed site will be protected.

· The central government appointed a commission to investigate the circumstances leading to the demolition of the mosque.

· Many political parties condemned the demolition and declared that this was against the principles of secularism. BJP officially expressed regret over the happenings in Ayodhya.

· A serious debate over secularism took place all over the country. Especially regarding using religious sentiments for electoral purposes.

Gujarat Riots

At a station in Godhra, a bogey of a train that was retuning from Ayodhya and was full of Karsevaks, was set on fire. 57 people died in the fire. Suspecting the hand of Muslims in the incident, large-scale violence against Muslims began in many parts of the country the next day, continuing for the whole month of February-March of 2002. Nearly 1100 Muslims were killed.

National Human Rights Commission criticised Gujarat government for-

1) Failing to control violence

2) Failing to provide relief to the victims

3) Failing to prosecute the perpetrators of the violence

This instance showed the dangers of using religious sentiments for electoral purposes in a democracy.

Emergence of a new consensus

The period after 1989 is seen as downfall of Congress and rise of BJP in electoral politics.

Lok Sabkha Elections 2004

Congress entered alliances and won, defeating NDA at the centre. The congress alliance was called United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and was supported by Left Front parties. Although it can be said 2004 saw partial revival of Congress since polls had increased since 1991, there was negligible difference between votes polled by Congress and its allies and BJP and its allies.

4 groups of parties had emerged- UPA, NDA, Left Front parties, Other parties which were not affiliated with any of the three. This made the democracy multi-cornered and implied divergence in political ideologies.

Growing consensus among political parties

1) Agreement on new economic policies adopted by the government despite of dissent expressed by the public.

2) Acceptance of political and social claims of backward castes. Many parties support reservation in education, employment, and are willing to ensure that OBCs get adequate share of power.

3) Acceptance of role of State level parties in government of the country. The distinction between the two is becoming less important as State level government are sharing power at national level and have played a central role in the country’s politics of last twenty years or so.

4) Emphasis on pragmatic considerations rather than ideological positions and political alliances without ideological agreement- coalition politics has shifted focus from ideological differences to power sharing agreements.

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