Eyeing south, BJP hints at willingness to move beyond Hindutva

The political resolution adopted at BJP's national executive in Hyderabad gave indications of the party's willingness to take the narrative beyond the noise surrounding hardline Hindutva and bulldozer politics.

The saffron party plans expansion in the new catchment areas of the South and Eastern parts of the country, particularly Odisha, which has a low minority population and confronts poverty and livelihood issues, particularly in the rural hinterlands.

A perusal of the political and economic resolutions adopted at BJP's national executive showed the brainstorming session's focus on the issues of the "poor, oppressed, exploited, and deprived sections of society", in which "rural life, agriculture, farmers and labourers" became the core much more than the reiterated contentious Hindutva issues.

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The Muslim population in Gujarat is below 10 per cent. In Himachal Pradesh, it is nearly 2 per cent, and the polarisation of votes does not significantly add to BJP's gains in these two states, which go to the polls this year.

In Karnataka, which goes to the polls next year, there is a perception that 'halal, hijab and azaan' issues are not doing anything big for the BJP. Odisha, another state which is the BJP's catchment area for its future expansion along with Southern states, has a Muslim population of nearly 2 per cent.

Other states which go to the polls in 2023 are BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, with a Muslim population of less than 7 per cent, and Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan, which have nearly 2 per cent and 9 per cent Muslims, respectively. Rajasthan is a switch state, alternating the two parties every five years.

The BJP's political resolution appeared to focus more on its outreach to the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes rather than highlighting the Hindu-Muslim narrative.

Projecting its decision to name Droupadi Murmu as BJP's Presidential nominee, the party looked back on its Presidential nominee in 2017, Ram Nath Kovind, and claimed the decisions have proved that the "BJP is concerned about political representation and empowerment of all weaker and backward communities including SC and ST."

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The party also showed keenness to come out of the Gujarat riots baggage and hailed the SC's judgement in the Zakia Jafri case as a "historic decision".

It slammed the "ecosystem" for attempting to "maliciously target" Modi over the riots and reminded that the PM previously "came out clean from all levels of court judgements" in the matter.

While the political resolution chose to talk a lot about "politics of performance", its economic resolution repeatedly sought to highlight BJP's focus on 'Gareeb Kalyan' and 'last-mile delivery'.

While pitching for "inclusive growth", it talked at length about Modi's schemes for welfare.

The resolution adopted at the national executive meeting came days after the government's 4-year service scheme in the military — 'Agnipath', which led to huge protests by youths in several states, including NDA-ruled Bihar, where a full-term government job is considered an opportunity for upliftment in social strata and security among youths from the poor sections in particular.

The resolution called for defeating the Opposition's politics of dynasty, casteism, and regionalism and promoting good governance and "politics of performance".

The party's economic resolution said the key drivers of India's growth story are the PM's vision of Atma-Nirbharata and Garib Kalyan, and they will continue to be the main pillars of the country's growth.