Zameer Ahmed brings out 'dark side' of Indian politics; fault lines in BJP over 'Batenge to katenge' slogan

Greetings readers,

From Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s second U-turn in five months to Elon Musk dancing his way into the Donald Trump cabinet 2.0, this week the political pot was simmering with some major twists and turns. Karnataka hit the national headlines several times this week for a not so “friendly banter” between two politicians, namely, H D Kumaraswamy and minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan.

Elsewhere in India, Jharkhand underwent the first phase of assembly elections with both BJP and JMM targeting tribal votes.

Maharashtra, on the other hand, witnessed fault lines within the Mahayuti alliance as well as the BJP over its star campaigner Yogi Aditynath’s slogan of “Batenge to Katenge” (we will perish if we are divided).

So brace yourselves as DH Political Theatre gives you a short tour of the political advancements made this week on the national and international stage.

The ‘dark side’ of Indian politics

Karnataka Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan has jumped to new lows of political discourse as he referred to Union Minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy as "Kaalia" (used to refer to someone with a dark complexion).

The minister’s comments drew the ire of the NDA which slammed him for the "racist" slur.

In a weak defence, Ahmed said that he had earlier too addressed Kumaraswamy in such a way out of affection, when they shared a good bonding, and it's not the first time.

"....If I had called him using such a word for the first time, I would have apologised....out of affection, he used to call me 'Kulla' (dwarf), I used to call him Kariyanna (black brother). If still he or anyone is pained by it, I apologise. What is there in that?" Khan said.

The affection must have dried up and the bonding might have weakened when Ahmed changed parties and left JD(S) to join Congress back in 2018 because Kumaraswamy completely denied Ahmed referring to him as ‘Kariya' in the past.

The union minister even swore on Goddess Chamundeshwari on Friday that he never called the Housing and Waqf Minister “Kulla.”

"I have not come from an environment where I could be called 'Kariya' or call any one 'Kulla',” he said, adding that his friendship and closeness with Zameer Ahmed was restricted to politics.

‘Batenge to Katenge’ strikes BJP first

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s firebrand Hindutva politics has ignited a row within the Maharashtra ruling alliance of BJP, NCP and Shiv Sena. Adityanath, the party's star campaigner, has been reiterating the slogan on the campaign trail for the November 20 Assembly polls.

The slogan even made Prime Minister Narendra Modi–who himself relied on “Magalsutra, Macchli and Muslims” to come back to power in the Lok Sabha elections–bring it down a notch by rephrasing it. In a classic “Rishta wahi soch nayi” move the PM has coined “Ek hai to safe hai” as the new party slogan.

Claiming that her “politics is different,” BJP leader Pankaja Munde has said, “I won't support it just because I belong to the BJP. My belief is we should work on development. There is no need for such an issue in Maharashtra.” The slogan did not sit well with another BJP leader Ashok Chavan and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar.

BJP and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP are already at loggerheads with each other over Nawab Malik’s candidature from the Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar seat.

Coming to the rescue of his party-mate, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Thursday that the slogan is a counter-narrative to the MVA's campaign and claimed that Chavan, Munde as well as Pawar have failed to grasp its "core" meaning.

Whether the Maharashtra public understood the “essence” of the slogan will become clear on November 23 when the election results are announced.

Karnataka ‘cancels’ contract quota for Muslims

The Siddaramiah-led Congress government in Karnataka is finding itself in a soup yet again.

Nearly four months after passing and then withholding the Karnataka State Employment of Local Candidates in the Industries, Factories and Other Establishments Bill, 2024, the state government has now made a U-turn on an apparent decision to provide reservation to Muslims in public contracts for construction works.

While the Chief Minister’s office said that there were no such plans under way and termed it a “new lie” of the opposition BJP, the official documents told a different story.

As per an internal note of the finance department, plans were afoot to amend Section 6 of the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements (KTPP) Act to include Category-2B (Muslims) under reservation in contracts.

Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka has shown concerns about “Karnataka turning into an Islamic Republic and Hindus becoming second-grade citizens” if the Congress government keeps making such decisions.

Congress asks EC for a level playing field as Rahul’s chopper fails to take off on time

The Congress on Friday complained to the Election Commission against the alleged grounding of party leader Rahul Gandhi's helicopter in poll-bound Jharkhand and sought its urgent intervention in ensuring a level playing field in poll campaigning.

The party had earlier lodged complaints with the EC against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, accusing them of making "false, divisive, malicious and slanderous" statements during their recent election campaign. Reaching for the moon, the party asked the poll body to ban Modi-Shah from conducting any election-related activities for the remainder of the election period.

Days ahead of paying homage to the first prime minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru on his birth anniversary, PM Modi had accused him of opposing OBC reservation.

The state is gearing up for second phase of assembly polls on November 20 and political parties have upped the ante targeting crucial tribal votes. Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath and other BJP campaigners have evoked all sorts of ‘jihad’ in their political speeches and accused the Hemant Soren-led JMM government of patronising infiltration in the state.

Meanwhile, polling in the first phase of elections to 43 assembly seats in Jharkhand remained peaceful, with over 66.18 per cent of 1.37 crore voters exercising their franchise on Wednesday.

Musk, Gabbard in Trump 2.0

Turning a blind eye to the concept of conflict of interests, US president-elect Donald Trump has picked the world's richest man and the owner of several companies, Elon Musk to lead a newly created Department of Government Efficiency alongside Vivek Ramaswamy.

In early October, one of Trump’s ardent supporters, the X (formerly Twitter) owner was seen dancing on the stage to cheers at a packed Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Trump said that Musk and Ramaswamy will reduce government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut waste and restructure federal agencies. Musk’s new position has raised concerns about his companies taking undue advantage and support from the US government.

Apart from Musk, Trump's new cabinet has seen the appointment of Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic representative and critic of the Biden administration, as the director of national intelligence.

Gabbard’s views on Hindus and their plight in countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan have earned her a lot of recognition among Hindu Americans.

It remains to be seen how the new Trump administration will affect the US-India relations in the future.

That is all about the political drama that unfolded this week. DH Political Theatre will come back again next week with more political developments from around the globe.

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DH Newsletters Team