Delhi polls: Politics of Chhath
Paying obeisance to the sun god, the source of all life on earth, can deliver some votes as well. As nearly 40 lakh Purvanchal people belonging to Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh celebrate the three-day Chhath festival in India’s capital city at a time fresh Assembly election looks a distinct possibility in Delhi; the politicians seem to have sniffed an electoral opportunity and vying for the Bihari vote pie.
Though Chhath is completely apolitical and somewhat unsectarian as well — even Muslims in parts of Bihar contribute to make Chhath a people’s tableau — the timing of the festival has attached political significance to it in Delhi.
In 2013, Chhath was held just before December 4 Assembly polls, while in 2014, the festival is being celebrated when political circles in the capital are agog with possibilities of fresh elections. In this backdrop, and with a numerically strong community celebrating their biggest festival, the politicians cannot be blamed for trying to earn some brownie points.
The BJP is understandably hopeful to bag the first mover’s advantage after the lieutenant governor’s office on Tuesday declared a public holiday on October 29 on the occasion of Chhath puja unlike last year when it was just a restricted holiday.
The BJP’s claim for the credit is not misplaced. The public holiday on Chhath declaration came just a day after Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay met chief secretary DM Spolia on Monday with the same demand.
The BJP has been keen on declaration of Chhath holiday; as the move may also dissipate the bitterness that Delhi BJP leader Vijay Goel’s statement had caused among the Purvanchal community in July.
Goel, while debating the Delhi budget in the Rajya Sabha on July 30, had said people from other states come to Delhi and “most of them are from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh”. In his statement, Goel had called the migrant population a big burden on Delhi, which “needed to be controlled”, triggering a wave of acrimony for BJP in Bihar.
Next month, the BJP lost from six seats when by-polls were held in 10 Bihar Assembly constituencies in August. Though BJP electoral setback in Bihar was largely attributed to the combined might of the newly constituted “secular alliance” of the JD(U)-RJD-Congress, Goel’s comments had only added to saffron discomfiture for the party in a state which has contributed in a big way in the formation of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre with 31 of 40 Lok Sabha seats.
Now, while BJP will try hard to underplay Goel’s statement before and after the Chhath festival in Delhi, the Congress and the AAP may hope that the words continue to ruffle the sentiments of the Purvanchal people.
While BJP is trying to emerge as the cause and beneficiary of declaration of public holiday on Chhath, the Congress has opened new battle front by accusing Narendra Modi government for “doing injustice to the Purvanchalis as several of them could not go back to their homes due to the “irresponsible railways”.
The shifting sands of Delhi politics has prompted the Purvanchal voters, once known as Congress pocket borough in nation’s capital, turn into an opportunity and challenge for every major political player in Delhi. The Purvanchalis have become a dominant force in various Assembly constituencies in Delhi, which explains the politicians’ proclivity to woo them on Chhath eve.
The political significance of the Purvanchal community people has also risen in nation’s Capital, as unlike the caste-ridden voting behaviour in their home states; their cultural identity overrides caste and community considerations in Delhi.
No wonder, unlike earlier times, the people from Purvanchal are a pampered lot. They are no longer humiliated or treated as unwanted and pariah in the city where their sizeable presence makes them hard to be ignored.
The scenario in 2014 is akin to the one seen last year when Chhath was observed just before the December Assembly polls, which ultimately threw up a fractured mandate.
The then chief minister Sheila Dikshit was seen greeting Chhath devotees at multiple locations during 2013 festival whereas top BJP leaders, including Nitin Gadkari, Vijay Goel and Harsh Vardhan, who was then BJP’s candidate for chief minister’s post, too were spotted mixing with people on that occasion.
The government led by Arvind Kejriwal had resigned on February 14 and President's Rule was imposed in Delhi on February 17. Since then the State Assembly has been kept in suspended animation.
A year later, the world seems to have come full circle and Delhi once again appears staring into political uncertainty on Chhath eve. Though voters are expected to elect just one winner this time — if and when Assembly elections are held in Delhi — Delhi politicians may take some lessons from Chhath traditions. This is perhaps the only festival in which the setting and the rising sun are worshipped.