Bandla Srinivas, Nellore Narasimha Rao, and Nalamati Lakshmana Rao
It’s election time. The BJP is trying to capture power at the centre for the third time in a row. The present BJP government helped crony capitalists in illegal ways like never before seen in post-independent India; increased wealth and income inequalities in the country; and destroyed the livelihoods of common people. The BJP has hijacked the minds of Hindus through cheap tactics such as fear of Muslims and Pakistan, hopes of a Rama Rajya, and infusing blind faith in a fake Vishwa Guru. And, most importantly, it is trying to garner Hindus’ votes by whipping up religious sentiments to win the 2024 parliament elections.
2. Therefore, it is time to stop this communal and fascist BJP from recapturing power at the centre. If the opposition parties and civil society groups keep talking about Hindutva, Ram, religious polarisation, communalism, and fascism during the election campaign, there is every danger of more Hindus joining the BJP’s fold, thus facilitating its comeback to power. Thus, instead of talking about Hindutva and Ram, the champion campaigners should provide the people with the true perspective that the BJP is an “anti-Hindu” party, though it is claiming to be a “Hindu-Party.” Therefore, the national debate should now be diverted from the issues relating to religion that the Sangh Parivar has been discussing for about 100 years to the economic destruction that the BJP government has inflicted during the last 10 years on the 142 crore Indians, especially on innocent Hindus who number over 110 crore.
3. According to the Oxfam report (2022) on economic inequalities in India, out of India’s national wealth, the country’s top 1% own 42.5% and the top 10% own 77%. However, the bottom 50% own only 2.8% of the national wealth. Furthermore, in 2021, the wealth of the top 1% increased by 46%, while that of the bottom 50% increased by a paltry 3%. Despite such heart-breaking inequalities, the BJP government has been working since 2014 to further enrich the top 10% of Indians by economically exploiting the rest. To cover up the bad reputation accumulated due to its anti-poor economic policies, the BJP floated a divisive policy of 80:20, i.e., 80% of the country’s population is Hindu and 20% minorities. The BJP has been trying hard to polarise the country on religious lines through hatred, violence, and laws against minorities so as to impress and mislead the majority community of Hindus with the objective of garnering Hindus’ votes in BJP’s favour. The BJP demoralised the minorities by vandalising their religious places, bulldozing their properties, enacting CAA to make them second-class citizens, and terrorising them into silence through state-sponsored hooliganism. At the same time, the BJP government has been destroying the economies and livelihoods of Hindus ever since they assumed power at the Centre in 2014. In the process, the BJP has trampled on the livelihoods of SCs, STs, OBCs, farmers, workers, women, youth, and the elderly, of whom 80% are Hindus. The claims that the BJP has been working to improve the livelihoods of Hindus (except the top 10%) over the past decade are false and figments of imagination. In fact, this BJP government pushed more Hindus into poverty than any other government post-independence. The truth is that the BJP is an “anti-Hindu” party. Presented below is a true narrative to counter the BJP’s fake narrative that it is a “pro-Hindu” party:
4. Assuming that all the national assets belong to different groups according to their percentage in the total population, it would mean that out of every 100 rupees of taxpayers’ money, national mineral and forest resources, public sector undertakings (PSUs), and public infrastructure assets that the BJP government handed over to crony capitalists during the last decade, more than Rs. 80 or 80 % of the assets belong to Hindus, and less than Rs. 20 or 20% of the assets belong to minorities. The minorities in India have disproportionately fewer financial assets compared to their population percentage. Thus, it is clear that the BJP government’s decisions during the last decade caused huge financial loss to the Hindus. The truth is that the BJP is tricking the innocent Hindus into thinking that it is promoting their economic development and welfare while actually harming them beyond their wildest imagination.
5. The BJP government’s policies of privatisation of PSUs and leasing out of public infrastructure assets through the national monetization pipeline to crony capitalists, unfairly and at throwaway prices, have been causing greater loss to the Hindus, who are the stakeholders in 80 percent of these national assets. Further, the privatisation of PSUs is mainly hurting the employment prospects of those belonging to SCs, STs, OBCs, and EWSs, as the private companies that acquire the PSUs may not have the obligation to implement the constitutionally mandated reservations in jobs. Thus, the BJP government has been causing enormous harm to the livelihoods of Hindus.
6. The BJP government has waived off loans worth Rs. 15.4 lakh crore that the crony capitalists obtained from public sector banks. The lower-middle, middle, and salaried classes, deposited their hard-earned money in these banks. Moreover, this BJP government used taxpayers’ money to recapitalize the loss-making public sector banks; Hindus remitted more than 80% of these taxes. Thus, Hindus suffered maximum due to these two decisions of the BJP government.
7. The BJP government’s decision to demonetize the currency has destroyed the Indian economy, especially micro, small, and medium enterprises. Millions of Indians lost their jobs and had landed in debt, and at least 80% of them were Hindus. However, the return of almost all the demonetized notes to the Reserve Bank of India proved that one of the avowed objectives of the demonetization, i.e., the eradication of “black money,” was not achieved.
8. Hindu farmers own most of the cultivable land in the country, and lakhs of Hindu tenants cultivate it. The BJP government’s “black farm laws,” in the name of reforms, were aimed at mortgaging the interests of Hindu farmers and tenants by benefiting crony corporations. Moreover, the BJP government’s policies led to increased input costs, inadequate credit facilities, an unsupportive crop insurance scheme, and price volatility. Natural calamities intensified these problems, forcing the farmers to commit suicide, thus ruining innumerable Hindu families.
9. The government’s reduction in corporate taxes from 30% to 22% has resulted in financial gains for crony capitalists and a huge loss to the government exchequer. Sadly, neither new investments nor the creation of new jobs have happened, thus causing multiple setbacks to the Indian economy, the general public, and the youth, almost 80% of whom are Hindus.
10. The BJP government included all conceivable goods and services, that the poor, lower-middle, and middle classes use, in the GST scope and increased the GST rates as well. These decisions have been adversely affecting the finances of these hapless families, 80% of whom are Hindus.
11. The BJP government neglected the health and education sectors, reduced funds for MGNREGA, which provides employment to the rural poor, and harmed the workers with new labour codes to help the industrialists. This government’s policies increased the prices of essential commodities such as groceries, fuel, gas, and of services such as transport and electricity, thus hitting the poor, lower-middle, and middle classes. Crimes against minorities and Dalit women have increased. The fact is that 80% of the victims of the policies and decisions of this BJP government are Hindus.
12. Thus, the actions of this BJP government, as explained in the aforementioned paragraphs, have spared the rich, seriously harmed the minorities in all aspects, and economically destroyed every section of Hindus, who are 80% of India’s population. The BJP, however, claims before the world that it is a “pro-Hindu party.” Against this backdrop, it is shocking to note that the BJP government, in which only Hindus are in power, is causing immeasurable economic harm to Hindus, thereby confirming that BJP is an “anti-Hindu” party. So, let all Indians, especially the innocent Hindus, wake up and fight unitedly through our truthful narrative against the fascism, communalism, and the “anti-Hindu nature” of this BJP government. Let’s protect our country and our people, irrespective of religion, caste, region, language and gender. The educated people, intellectuals, patriots, civil society groups, and opposition parties should play an important role in successfully implementing this urgent national mission. Let’s make sure that our beloved India doesn’t become the dystopian society that George Orwell portrayed in 1984.
