The Modi Government has pulled off quite a coup with its list of Bharat Ratna awardees. The move is high on messaging and optics, specially the awards to former Prime Ministers Narasimha Rao and Chaudhary Charan Singh. Both do not belong to the BJP, one was a Congressman and at the time of the announcement the other belonged to a party that was allying with the Congress. That has changed since Jayant Chaudhary’s Dil Jeet Liya tweet was soon followed by another announcement that he would be allying with the NDA and not the INDIA block.
First about the RLD. Jayant’s party is strong in Western Uttar Pradesh, specially amongst farmers and jaats. The farming community is one that had raised cudgels against the BJP government’s new farm laws and in fact Jayant was one of the first few to be there on the ground to show solidarity with the farmers. However in the state elections that followed in Uttar Pradesh (2022) the western uttar pradesh belt voted for the BJP with some pockets supporting the RLD and the SP alliance. Clearly while the RLD vote could be converted in favour of the SP the same was not true of the reverse. Don’t forget there is also a strong rivalry between the Jats and the Muslims which could not be reconciled by the alliance. That could be one reason for Jayant’s switch over. The other of course is the lack of clarity on seat sharing. Western Uttar Pradesh makes up for about 29 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats from the state. Jayant had been offered 7 of these by Akhilesh Yadav but there was still some confusion as to which ones. The BJP on the other hand has apparently offered two Lok Sabha seats and also ministerial berths in the Yogi Government. Given the way the wind is blowing especially in Uttar Pradesh the offer of BJP’s two versus INDIA bloc’s 7 holds more appeal. Jayant has done the pragmatic thing by deciding what is best for his party and workers.
As for the award for Narasimha Rao, there are some congress leaders also who have appreciated this. There were those who were unhappy by the sidelining of Narasimha Rao by the Congress High Command. The party focused more on his role in the Babri Masjid Demolishment and less on his other achievements. To be the Prime Minister who had the gumption to go ahead with liberalisation is no small achievement. We are still reaping the benefits of that move. But the liberalisation story is rarely celebrated by the Congress when it is listing its achievements.
Also Rao’s Bharat Ratna was celebrated in Andhra, and the BJP is hoping to make inroads in the state. Or at the very least shake off the tag that is a party of the North.
What the Congress needs to do is to at least applaud the Bharat Ratna to one of its own. Dr Manmohan Singh, another former Prime Minister who recently retired from Parliament too needs to be feted by his own party much more than he is currently. And the Congress certainly needs to brush up the book on How to Win Friends and Keep Allies !
Priya Sahgal