THE BJP has sharpened its Hindutva push in Chhattisgarh, with a group of hardline candidates forming the vanguard of the party’s charge. These include a prime accused in the 2021 Kawardha communal violence, the father of a victim of a communal riot, and a former minister who is the face of the party’s campaign against religious conversions.
The list includes two members of the family of the late Dilip Singh Judeo, a leader with RSS and VHP links known for the Ghar Wapsi campaign (“re-converting” people to Hinduism) he ran for over four decades.
Denouncing the BJP list, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said, “They may try lakhs of times, but this (communal card) can’t be an issue.”
In the state where more than 90% of the population is Hindu, with Muslims and Christians nearly equal at around 2% each, the BJP can expect the Hindutva plank to help it in 51 of the total 90 seats. Out of the 85 candidates announced by the party already, none is a Muslim. Plus, with the anti-conversion pitch, it can expect polarisation to help it in tribal-dominated areas like Bastar.
Further toeing the Hindutva line, the BJP’s Chhattisgarh in-charge and MP, Arun Sao, described the Congress state government as “Bhupesh, Akbar aur Dhebar ki sarkar”. The taunt was towards Raipur Mayor Aijaz Dhebar, whose brother Anwar is touted as the kingpin of a Rs 2,000 crore liquor scam, and minister Mohammad Akbar, blamed by the BJP for the Kawardha incident.
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