Dehradun: On 10 February, while addressing an election rally in Uttarakhand’s Srinagar city, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the opposition for questioning the surgical strike carried out by the Indian Army against Pakistan in 2016. “They (the opposition) had even questioned the appointment of General Rawat as the country’s first Chief of Defence Staff,” he added.
Rawat, who died in a helicopter crash in December last year, was originally from Uttarakhand. He was appointed CDS in January 2020.
While it is not the first time PM Modi or the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have played on nationalist sentiments to reach voters, the pitch in Uttarakhand this time was sharper and more aggressive, say political observers in the state.
Also this, time this plank was shared by both the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the state. All three parties made a desperate attempt to reach serving and former defence personnel in the state, ahead of the Uttarakhand assembling elections scheduled for Monday, 14 February,
While AAP declared Colonel Ajay Kothiyal, an ex-serviceman as its chief ministerial candidate in the state, former chief minister and Congress leader Harish Rawat said that the Congress will put up photos of CDS Bipin Rawat, the late General B.C. Joshi, and eminent freedom fighters from the state in the offices of its party leaders and officials, calling them the ‘pride of Uttarakhand’.”
The reason, according to political experts, is the sway that servicemen have traditionally held on election results in the county.
There are nearly 3.5 lakh ex-servicemen and war widows among Uttarakhand’s voters, according to State Sainik Welfare Directorate records. This is in addition to nearly one lakh serving armed forces personnel.
“Almost all 70 constituencies in the state have sizeable strength of defence and paramilitary force voters with some variations. Assembly seats in Chamoli and Pauri districts have comparatively larger sizes of these electorates. This is the chief reason why the Prime Minister focused most of his speech on armed forces while addressing people in Srinagar Thursday,” said Bhagirath Sharma, a political observer, who had been keenly tracking Uttarakhand elections since 2002.
The fact that ex-servicemen, serving army personnel and their families play a decisive role in Uttarakhand elections was admitted by a senior BJP leader, who said they constitute about 12 per cent of the total electorate in the state. Not only this, according to him, they can be the decisive factor in around 30-35 seats.
‘Congress, AAP wooing for votes, but security important for BJP’
According to the senior BJP leader quoted above, the focus on servicemen in the state has increased with the AAP’s entry in the political fray.
“AAP announced a colonel as its CM candidate. They have also been talking about taking steps for welfare of ex-servicemen. The Congress has also been talking about putting photos of CDS Rawat and other martyrs in their offices. The Congress and the AAP are trying to woo them for votes only. But for BJP, national security and those who secure the nation are very important. It is important that people are able to differentiate between real and fake nationalism,” said the BJP leader.
PM Modi spent a good part of his Srinagar speech talking about the Army and late CDS Rawat.
“People of Uttarakhand cannot forget the conduct of the opposition against the armed forces. These people question the armed forces when our heroes carried out a surgical strike at terrorists’ hideouts. Some leaders in Delhi had asked the Indian Army for proof of the strike on television. They played politics against the appointment of General Rawat, the first CDS of the country,” said Modi said, a reference to past statements made by AAP chief Kejriwal and the Congress on these issues.
Attacking the Congress, Modi had said, “Today, the Congress party is seeking votes using cutouts and images of General Bipin Rawat. I cannot believe anyone can stoop so low.” Commenting on Rawat’s appointment, Congress leader Manish Tewari had said, “Govt has started on a very wrong foot with regard to CDS”.
Modi also used the nationalism trope to reach voters at a rally in Almora Friday, where he said, “People of Uttarakhand are true patriots. They laid their lives for the nation on the borders and other parts of the country but Congress governments never bothered to look for the well-being of their villagers. Our government has come up with special package for their rehabilitation in these border areas.” The Prime Minister also spoke of the Parvat Mala Project, announced by him earlier to boost connectivity in hill areas and “strengthen border villages” .
Besides the PM’s public references to servicemen in his speeches, the BJP also made considerable promises for armed forces personnel and their dependents, including that of starting a welfare scheme for their rehabilitation and employment under the name of General Bipin Rawat, in its manifesto. The party has also promised a comprehensive package for the rehabilitation of the state’s ex-servicemen in border areas.
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AAP, Congress compete for attention
Meanwhile the AAP’s chief ministerial candidate, Col Ajay Kothiyal, released a video campaign that showed him as an officer in greens and included glimpses of his life in the forces.
The party’s election manifesto has a special focus on defence personnel, with the vision document promising Rs 1 crore compensation for families of martyrs (who lost their lives at the front), along with government jobs for servicemen taking premature retirement.
The AAP has also promised to constitute a ‘General Bipin Rawat Armed Forces Preparatory Institute’ to provide training for recruitment in the armed forces.
In a video message to voters, Kejriwal said, “Uttarakhand is a land of patriots. You have served the nation at the cost of your lives. A retired ex-serviceman is a patriot, hard worker and disciplined. All ex-servicemen will be provided government jobs directly after we come to power and we will seek their participation in the development of the state. We will also provide Rs 1 crore compensation to families of all the martyrs of armed forces and police in the state.”
The Congress, on its part, began its poll campaign in December with a rally on Vijay Diwas (December 16), which displayed large cutouts of General Rawat. The party’s candidates and officials are putting up photographs of the late general in their offices.
In his poll rallies in the state, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi repeatedly drew parallels between the deaths of the late Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi with that of the state’s martyrs (servicemen who died on the front), claiming his family too have gone through similar agony and pain.
In its manifesto released by Priyanka Gandhi, the party announced monetary assistance to families of ex-servicemen and those killed in action.
‘Effect of Bipin Rawat’s death’
Asked why the narrative of poll campaigning in Uttarakhand was focussed on the armed forces and churning natalist sentiments, Congress leader Jot Singh Bisht alleged it was the BJP and Prime Minister Modi who started the politics of wooing former and serving defence personnel in this election.
“The BJP is trying to take undue advantage of defence personnel in Uttarakhand, who are charged with nationalist emotions. Most of them are Hindus,” he added.
Bisht, also an ex-serviceman, added, “The Congress speaks only about their well-being and schemes for their families and children. No doubt, defence voters’ politics has reached zenith this election as their electorate size impacts many seats in the state.”
Bisht’s allegation was denied by former CM and BJP leader Trivendra Singh Rawat, who claimed the Congress was rattled by the impact of the PM’s poll campaigns in the state. “The Congress party is unable to take the fact that defence voters are galvanising towards the work done for their welfare by the Centre and promises made by the BJP in the manifesto for the 2022 poll. The BJP wants to give due honour to General Bipin Rawat and martyrs ensuring rehabilitation of the serving as well as ex-servicemen,” said Rawat.
The AAP meanwhile had claimed credit for the focus on servicemen and ex-servicemen in this year’s elections.
“The BJP and Congress were forced to fall in line after Aam Adami Party declared Col. Ajay Kothiyal, a decorated soldier, as its CM candidate,” said AAP leader and party’s Uttarakhand strategist Divyashish Sharma.
He added: “It was he who began talking about basic needs of people of Uttarakhand and defence personnel in the state. Both BJP and the Congress party realised the public attraction our CM candidate was getting from across the state. This compelled them to go overboard on seeking the armed forces votebank.”
Political experts and analysts in Uttarakhand, however, link the “unprecedented focus” on defence forces in this election, to CDS Rawat’s death.
“This is the fifth assembly election in Uttarakhand, but none of the last four polls saw the intensity of armed forces-centric campaign as this one did. This began only after the death of the CDS. Both the main political parties, Congress and the BJP, missed no opportunity to cash upon the name and legacy of General Bipin Rawat,” said Jai Singh Rawat, a senior political analyst in Dehradun.
He added: “This is mainly because almost every constituency of the state has a good number of defence services, paramilitary, central reserve forces and police personnel voters. The BJP is seeing a fair chance for itself as the armed forces personnel are nationalist in themselves.”
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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Source: The Print
