EC does well to rein in foul-mouthed leaders
The political discourse surrounding the Bihar campaign has been on a downward spiral for a while now, and one must be thankful to the Election Commission for stepping in and seeking to stem the rot. Hopefully, as polling begins on Monday, the EC's rebuke will help restore good sense and dignity. On Friday, the poll watchdog cautioned politicians against making comments that were “calculated to cause mutual hatred, disharmony or ill-will and aimed at aggravating differences between different political parties and classes of citizens on the grounds of religion, caste and community”. Already, some 37 First Information Reports have been filed against poll candidates and party leaders for making speeches considered to be divisive and hateful.
Notably, the campaign had started out well, with the leading players — Mr Nitish Kumar leading the incumbent forces and Mr Narendra Modi leading the opposition parties — opting for a relatively positive discourse. Despite the fact that the two have been on opposite sides of the political fence ever since the JD(U) and the BJP broke of their alliance in Bihar in the run up to the 2014 lok Sabha poll, their respective campaigns in the early days weren't quite as shrill or condescending.
Sure, the two traded barbs and made some cutting remarks but overall the focuses remained on issues like development, good governance and social welfare. However, the situation changed after the entry of other players into the electoral fray. A few of these players are well past their political prime while others are just trying to grab a slice of the Bihar poll pie. Expectedly, the poll talk had soon become sensationalised, if not become downright crass and disrespectful.
For example, when BJP president Amit Shah called RJD chief lalu Prasad “chara chor”, the former Chief Minister of Bihar retorted by referring to him as “narbhakshi”. Both men have FIRs lodged against them now but still, note the distinction even in their name-calling. Calling someone “char chor” may not be in good taste but in the case of lalu Prasad, it is, at least, accurate given his conviction in the fodder scam case. The BJP leader, on the other hand, has not been convicted of murder or man-slaughter, let alone cannibalism (which is the exact English word for “narbhakshi”).
Moreover, even after “narbhakshi” comment prompted an FIR against him, lalu Prasad was undeterred and hurled the same abusive at Mr Shah for a second time at a different rally. In between though, he seemed to have gone through a sober phase for a brief period, when he blamed a shaitan (the devil) for his bad language. As expected, his rivals jumped at this opportunity, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking voters in Bihar if they would like a man, within whom the devil resides, to lead their StateIJ Not one to be left out of a controversy, All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen leader Akbaruddin Owaisi had fired his own shaitan shot, poisoned with a zaalim tip, predictably aimed at Mr Modi over the latter’s alleged role in the 2002 post-Godhra violence. Previously, JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav too had contributed to the electoral cesspool with his threat to voters that those who didn't cast their ballot in favour of his party candidates would end up in “jahannum”(hell).