Opinion: Sita became the constitution, Raavan became the head of the parties! The story of the electoral Ramayana is amazing

Authors: Anstasia Piliaski and Vikramaditya Thakur
This year, for the first time, the Constitution became an important centre of discussion in electoral politics in India, just like in the US. A week before the elections began this year, a video went viral on social media in which it was said that there was a secret plan to replace the Constitution with another Constitution based on Manusmriti, ‘which even Baba Saheb Ambedkar could not abolish’. The next day, on Ambedkar’s 133rd birth anniversary, the online media space was filled with ‘Save the Constitution’ appeals from all opposition parties, from the Congress to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The video turned out to be fake, but the suspicion it raised is not leaving ground. If we look at the tussle between the ruling and the opposition, the Constitution seems to be the ‘Sita’ of this electoral epic of India, whom everyone is seen swearing to protect from each other. Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, waving a copy of the Constitution in Bilaspur last month, stressed that it is the sacred duty of the Congress towards Dalits, tribals, minorities and the poor to save the Constitution from the BJP. In return, PM Narendra Modi accused the Congress of ‘hating’ the Constitution of India (and its identity and family values). he/she said that the Congress left no stone unturned in giving SC, ST and OBC reservation to religious minorities against the spirit of the Constitution and it is still preparing to do the same. The PM said that this move of the Congress is such that Baba Saheb Ambedkar would have been shocked.

Kanhaiya Kumar is presenting the opposition as ‘we are the real guards of the Constitution’. Meanwhile, BJP president JP Nadda is busy assuring voters that the Modi government is better placed to protect constitutional rights and values ​​than the resolveless and issueless opposition. After all, it was the Modi government that declared in 2015 that November 26 will be celebrated as India’s Constitution Day. Perhaps the government played this trump card to divert attention from the uproar over RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s suggestion to amend the reservation system mentioned in the Constitution.

Neo-constitutionalism: However, the Constitution has now become a new electoral toy for party chiefs. In the last decade, it has been waving as a flag in various political movements across the country. In 2017-18, the Pathalgadi movement was carried out in Jharkhand to protect tribal land. Then 15 feet stone slabs were installed at the entrance of many Munda villages. The words of the Constitution were inscribed on them. In 2019, JMM formed the government in Jharkhand citing the Constitution and demanded recognition of Sarna religion for tribals.

Those protesting against the CAA in 2019-20, especially those at Shaheen Bagh, also invoked constitutional values. Farmer youth from the Jat, Maratha, Gurjar and more recently Rajput communities have also brought the Constitution into the spotlight by demanding reservation. In the past decade, movements for reservation by different communities have rocked North India.

Everyone’s activity: A sect of Ambedkarite Mahar neo-Buddhists in Maharashtra may celebrate November 26 as Preamble Day of the Constitution in their Buddhist Vihars, as they chant the slogan named after their leader, ‘One person, one vote, one value.’ But the Constitution is not on the lips of most Indian citizens. From illiterate villagers to educated urban dwellers, they have a lot to say about their state or central government or administration, but know little about the world’s longest Constitution. It is an arcane subject best left to lawyers and judges.

A new generation of rural activists has set out to change that. Santosh is a Bhil activist who is the first in his/her family to go to school. he/she has a master’s degree in social work and now runs constitutional awareness workshops in the tribal belt of northern Maharashtra. After finishing his/her work, he/she explains to a crowd of less-literate villagers through stories and songs in local languages, “The road in your village, the government’s welfare schemes, forest rights, courts, all come from this Deshchi Pustak (the country’s book, the Constitution).”

Dhanji, a lower caste activist from Kolhapur in Maharashtra, says, “The dams and electricity that brought prosperity to villages are the result of a state government scheme to which it is bound by the Constitution. So are primary health centres in villages and reservations for women.” Dadabhai, a Dalit school teacher in Nandurbar, Maharashtra, says, “Many historically subjugated groups, especially women, Dalits and Adivasis, are now thinking, what is my problem and how can it be solved using the Constitution?”

Everyday ignorance: But do they really think so? In the tribal-dominated Nandurbar district, social activists are running a movement for constitutional awareness. Very few people there refer to Article 15, which guarantees equality, or Article 342, which guarantees tribal reservation. In everyday political conversations, words like welfare and development are used frequently, but in contrast, the word constitution rarely comes out of anyone’s mouth.

Unemployment in rural areas has taken the form of an epidemic. Agriculture is becoming increasingly loss-making and uncertain. In such a situation, the youth’s focus on government jobs has increased. Due to this, the demand for reservation has started to deepen. The caste census conducted in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar and the demand in other states are part of this nationwide concern. On the one hand, social activists are inciting the villagers to get their demands accepted by the government, while on the other hand the Constitution is helping them to combine the well-known welfarism with the modern politics of reservation.

However, despite all the efforts of rural activists, it is the Constitution’s ‘defenders’ in Parliament who are now most effective in adding this law to the lexicon of people’s claims. In just six weeks the word Constitution has transformed from an obscure technical term to a buzzword in India’s political common sense.

Piliski is a social anthropologist at King’s College London while Thakur teaches anthropology at the University of Delaware.