Constitution the focal point of campaign

Tikender Panwar

“BHAIYA, are we really going to see the end of our Constitution?” murmured a former BJP councillor from the Shimla Municipal Corporation into my ear.

The occasion was the birth anniversary of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar in Shimla on April 14. Soon after the Governor left the venue, such slogans were raised by different community leaders: “Is desh ki raksha kaun karega,” and “Is Samvidhan ki Raksha kaun karega,” with resonating answers: “Hum karenge” (Who will protect the Constitution and the country? We will do it!).

Having been a witness to more than 20 years of both Babasaheb’s birth and death anniversaries, this was the first time that the Constitution became the central point of conversation during the event.

400 boomerang for BJP?

The figure of 400 seats for the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections matters differently to different sections of people. For the marginalised, Dalits, minorities and other sections, the figure signifies that once the ruling party achieves this number, there is something imminent concerning the constitutional framework that will change. The Constitution does not promote the agenda of a majoritarian state. It does not aim to create a state based on a strong intertwining of religion in governance.

Now, how does this affect marginalised communities? Shouldn’t they be part of the larger bandwagon of a majoritarian state if they belong to the same religion? Though the Constitution has not been able to create an ideal state or developmental model, it has still been able to implement some redistributive policies through affirmative actions such as social and economic reservations.

Bezwada Wilson, a leader of sanitation workers, explained this to the author in an interaction. He said, “His grandfather lifted faecal matter of other human beings in the village and remained a ‘near slave’ all his life, whereas his father also did the same work in cities, but for the first time saw currency in his hands, through which he could go to the market and buy things at his wish.”

Then he went on to explain now his generation and others, through the enabling factor of the Constitution, can sit with policymakers and fight to reclaim their rights.

What the councillor feared was a loss of such rights once the 400 mark was reached because that would change the spirit of the Constitution, the scope of affirmative actions, and so on.

State no different

In Himachal Pradesh, where the elections are to take place on June 1, the last leg of the phase, the issue of tampering with the Constitution is turning out to be one of the biggest phenomena subtly infiltrating the minds of people. The state has the second highest ratio of Dalit population after Punjab in the country. With the advent of a strong presence of the state apparatus in many social development infrastructures along with affirmative actions, there is a natural fear that a change in the Constitution will adversely affect them.

Though the ruling party in the state(Congress) is making a high-pitched campaign on its role in the recent disaster and the poaching of its MLAs by the Opposition, the subtle campaign is steered by the Constitution and its continuity in the current conjuncture. How this will manifest during the campaign, only time will tell.

Safeguarding interests of all

The Constitution does not promote the agenda of a majoritarian state. It does not aim to create a state based on a strong intertwining of religion in governance.

— The writer is a former Deputy Mayor of Shimla