Aam
Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal at the Hanuman temple in Connaught
Place, New Delhi after his party's victory in the Delhi assembly
election. (Photo: Getty Images)
Of
the many things that the 2020 Delhi assembly election heralded, one
that stands out because of its optics is the public emergence of Hanuman
bhakt Arvind Kejriwal. In his victory speech on Tuesday, Arvind Kejriwal thanked Lord Hanuman
for blessing Delhi and said the mandate given to the Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) has marked the dawn of a "new form of politics" in India.In Kejriwal's words, this newness is outlined by "kaam ki rajneeti (politics of work)" wherein people would vote on the basis of developmental works (schools, hospitals, affordable healthcare, electricity etc) carried out by a government. "This is an auspicious message for the country," he said.
No doubt, that's refreshing to hear, especially in a political atmosphere vitiated by a high-decibel cacophony of the worst order.
But development was not the only axis on which Arvind Kejriwal's Delhi election campaign rotated on.
To mellow down the vitriol of BJP's hard Hindutva politics married to its brand of nationalism, Arvind Kejriwal rebranded himself as a devout Hanuman bhakt who isn't shy of wearing his religious identity down his sleeves; say 'Jai Hind' and 'Vande Matram'; carefully side-step thorny uncomfortable issues like CAA, NRC and Shaheen Bagh; and yet anchor his discourse around development.
This careful positioning of himself as a devout Hanuman bhakt in the campaign's last leg ensured Kejriwal that those who were with him on the issue of development and governance, didn't stray away to the BJP on count of polarisation fanned by appeals to religious and nationalistic identities.
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After thanking the people of Delhi for the landslide mandate "for his developmental works", Kejriwal touched base with his religious identity, lest there remain any doubts.
"Aaj mangal vaar hai...(cheers from the crowd)...Hanuman ji ka din hai. Hanuman ji ne aaj apni Dilli pe kripa barsayi hai. Hanuman ji ka bhi bahut bahut dhanyavaad (It's Tuesday today, the day of Lord Hanuman. The Lord has blessed our Delhi and I thank him for this victory)," he said.
Later in the day Kejriwal visited the Hanuman temple in Delhi's Connaught Place, with his entry marked with loud cries of "Jai shree Ram, Jai shree Ram" from his supporters. Later he told reporters: "Hanuman ji sabka bhala karenga (Lord Hanuman will bless us all)."
Not just Arvind Kejriwal, but other AAP leaders-Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chaddha-who addressed AAP workers at the party headquarters on Tuesday, too resonated these identities, leading crowds to the cheers of 'Bharat Mata ki jai', and 'Vande Matram'.
Aaj mangal vaar hai...Hanuman ji ka din hai. Hanuman ji ne aaj apni Dilli pe kripa barsayi hai. Hanuman ji ka bhi bahut bahut dhanyavaad.
And that's exactly what would make the Rashtriya Sawayamsevak Sangh (RSS) smile.
For long, the RSS has been trying to cultivate a culture where politicians (irrespective of parties) don't feel shy wearing their Hindu identities in public and also cheer along the lines of 'Bharat Mata ki jai' and 'Vande Mataram'.
The recent comment of RSS general secretary Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi puts this into perspective. "Hindu community does not mean Bharatiya Janata Party, and opposing BJP does not amount to opposing Hindus. Political fight will continue but it should not be linked to Hindus," Joshi said in Goa.
So when a Rahul Gandhi takes a "holy" trip to Kailash Mansarovar just before Lok Sabha elections, claiming to be a "devout Shiv bhakt" who is a janeyudhari Brahmin hoping from one temple to the other, the RSS senses a victory of sorts.
When a Shashi Tharoor talks proudly about Hinduism and slams RSS and BJP in his book 'Why I am a Hindu' for its polarising politics, the RSS, despite the attacks, senses a victory.
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