Ahead of the upcoming elections in Himachal and Gujarat, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to consider including the pictures of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha in currency notes as they would earn the blessings of the Hindu deities and strengthen the economy. Kejriwal further said if Indonesia can do it, so can India.
It seems that Kejriwal’s appeal clearly has less to do with the economy and more to do with appeasing to the Hindu voters, in an unabashed attempt to corner the ruling BJP on the latter’s core Hinduvta plank. Therefore, Kejriwal’s words have got under the skin of the BJP.
Immediately, after Kejriwal’s appeal, BJP’s Sambit Patra took pot-shots at him on Wednesday, and said that “there is a song in a Hindi film – ‘kya ho gaya dekhte dekhte’”. During the press conference, Patra also said, “Kashmiri Pandit ko dilli me naukri dene se inkaar karne waale Arvind Kejriwal, Kashmiri Pandit ke upar hasne wale Arvind Kejriwal, aaj achanak jo Hindu banne ki chesta kar rehein hain, ye U-turn ki parakasta hai.” The BJP has attempted to paint Kejriwal as someone who suffered from the ‘imposter syndrome’ and was a ‘chunavi Hindu’.
Meanwhile, AAP also held a series of press conferences to amplify Kejriwal’s appeal and corner the BJP into taking a position on its currency appeal.
In a struggle for the ‘Hindu vote’, the playing out of the narrative between the BJP and AAP is quite fierce, with the former claiming to be the champion of the ‘Hindu identity’ while the latter charging the BJP for being ‘pseudo-Hindu’ ever since Kejriwal announced the intent of his government to establish a ‘Ram Rajya’ in Delhi. It reminds one of the manner in which the BJP continues to hammer the principal opposition party, the Congress, on ‘pseudo secularism’.
Ahead of the crucial assembly polls in Gujarat, the results of which seem have an impact of the 2024 general elections, Kejriwal’s campaign in the state has drawn heavily on the epic Mahabharata — from painting his party as the righteous one having Lord Krishna on its side and the BJP as the unrighteous one. It must also be noted that while the AAP has defended Satyendra Jain and Manish Sisodia who have been charged with corruption and termed the entire episode as political vendetta, it took quite another stance when controversy erupted over its former minister Rajendra Pal Gautam’s participation in a ‘diksha’ ceremony where thousands took oath to convert to Buddhism.
The timing of Kejriwal’s currency appeal came on the day when Mallikarjun Kharge was officially anointed as the new Congress president, and a couple of days after the mega Diwali celebrations in Ayodhya in which PM Modi participated.
It remains to be seen what impact Kejriwal’s most recent political positioning will have on the electorate, especially in Gujarat. Can AAP learn to manage to cast itself in the moulds of Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh, and lay claims to the majoritarian religious sentiments? Gujarat may have an answer.
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