Another friend protested against ‘If you divide, you will be divided’ and BJP is tolerating it! What is the matter after all?

New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had given the slogan ‘If you divide, you will be divided’, in reference to the atrocities on Hindus after the coup in Bangladesh. Experts said that this slogan of Yogi liked the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Prime Minister Narendra Modi also openly supported Yogi under the guise of slogans like ‘If you remain united, you will be safe’, ‘If you remain united, you will remain noble’. It had to have an impact, and it did. The words ‘If you divide, you will be divided’ started rising on the tongue rapidly. This slogan reached the grassroots and the opponents were also forced to react to this slogan from the platforms of election rallies. It is natural that the opponents will not support BJP’s slogan, they protested vociferously. But voices of protest started being heard from fellow parties and even from within the BJP itself. The latest name associated with this is that of Bihar NDA leader Upendra Kushwaha. Kushwaha has his/her own party named Rashtriya Lok Morcha. With the help of BJP, he/she has become a Rajya Sabha MP. Kushwaha, who was in the NDA since 2014, left the alliance around 2019. Then came together again before the 2024 elections. he/she says that he/she does not agree with the slogan that if you divide, you will be divided. When journalists in Patna asked him/her for his/her reaction on the slogan of ‘Bintoge to Katoge’, he/she immediately said, ‘I can never agree on this matter.’ Meaning Kushwaha is firm that this slogan is not right, hence he/she will never be able to support it.

The opposition from his/her own people to the slogan of ‘If you divide, you will be divided’ started with Ajit Pawar’s statement. he/she not only strongly criticized this slogan but also went a step further and took a dig at UP CM Yogi Adityanath who gave the slogan. It is a different matter that he/she never took the name of Yogi. Ajit Pawar said, ‘BJP Chief Ministers of other states should decide what they have to say. People from outside Maharashtra come and say such things. We are working together in Mahayuti, but the ideologies of our parties are different. It may be possible that this works in other states, but it does not work in Maharashtra. It is clear that just as Yogi-Modi and RSS accepted the ‘bantoge to katoge’ slogan, similarly Ajit Pawar took an open stand against it.

BJP could not speak with equal force against Ajit Pawar. Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister of the state Devendra Fadnavis definitely reacted to Ajit Pawar’s statement in an interview, but he/she too could not talk with the intensity that was seen in Ajit Pawar. Fadnavis said, ‘For decades, Ajit Pawar lived with ideologies which are secular and anti-Hindu. There is no real secularism among those who call themselves secular. he/she has been with such people for whom opposing Hindutva is secularism. Fadnavis was seen claiming that the public is with this slogan, which people like Ajit Pawar are unable to realize. he/she said, ‘It will take some time for him/her (Ajit Pawar) to understand the mood of the people. These people either did not understand the public sentiment or did not understand the meaning of this statement or perhaps wanted to say something else while speaking.

Well, Ajit Pawar is from a different party, his/her political training was done in a different way. Therefore, he/she might have made a mistake in understanding the mood of BJP and its voters. But what about Pankaja Munde? his/her father, late Gopinath Munde, used to be a strong leader of BJP. She grew up in the ideology of BJP. What is the reason behind his/her hesitation in supporting ‘Banthoge toh katoge’? Pankaja has said, this is fine for Uttar Pradesh but there is no place for it in Maharashtra. How did this slogan become irrelevant in Maharashtra, where Muslim organizations are issuing fatwas to vote unitedly against the BJP?

If the Khanti BJP people are keeping distance from the BJP by dividing them, then what about those who are wearing the new saffron robes? Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who was a big leader of Congress, has now joined BJP and become a Rajya Sabha MP. he/she said, ‘The slogan of Batenge to Katenge is not right, it is irrelevant. People won’t like it. Is Maharashtra an example of social harmony where this slogan is not needed? Are Jihadi elements not active in Maharashtra and anti-Hindu activities not happening? To put it plainly, are there no threats to Hindus in Maharashtra from the fundamentalist Muslim section?

The leaders of Maharashtra are saying that if you divide here, there is no need to divide, while the leaders of Uttar Pradesh are saying – there is no need for it here too. And in UP, who shied away from the slogan ‘If you divide, you will be cut’? Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya. Last Saturday, Maurya was seen ignoring the slogan given by Yogi during the campaign in Majhwan by-election. he/she did not mention this slogan even once in his/her speech, on top of that when the media asked him/her, he/she said – I don’t know in what context the CM (Yogi) had said ‘If you divide, you will be divided’. However, he/she supported the version of ‘Bantoge ke Katoge’ given by Prime Minister Modi. Keshav Maurya said, this is our slogan – Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas, Ek Hain Toh Safe Hai.

The leaders of Maharashtra said that there is no need of ‘Banthoge to Katoge’ in their state, whereas the JDU leader said that in fact the country does not need this slogan. JDU Legislative Councilor (MLC) Ghulam Gaus had said, ‘The country does not need slogans like if you divide, you will be divided. This slogan is needed by those people who want votes in the name of community. When the President, Prime Minister and Home Minister of the country are Hindus, then how did Hindus become unsafe in the country? JDU is the ruling party of Bihar and a component of NDA. Similarly, RLD chief Jayant Choudhary, along with the NDA in UP, also distanced himself from the ‘bantoge to katoge’ slogan. he/she said, ‘This is his/her (Yogi Adityanath’s) point.’

The question is whether RSS-BJP have floated ‘Bantogeh to Katoge’ only as an election slogan or are they fully confident in considering it as the ground reality? If this is an election slogan then it also has a lifespan. If this slogan has made a home in the minds of common Hindus, then the responsibility of RSS-BJP increases to create confidence among its supporters that this is not just an election slogan. If there is failure in this, Hindutva politics may face a big blow which is sure to have a direct impact on BJP’s electoral politics. If the opposition continues to be raised by the leaders of BJP and alliance parties, then in the times to come, the message that will be sent down is that BJP has only played an election trick by saying ‘If you divide, you will be divided’, it has no faith in such an idea. So, will RSS-BJP give a clear message to its leaders and alliance partners that there is no compromise with this slogan, if there is opposition then exit will be the only result? If not, not only the slogan but BJP will also be weak.