Morphing into Amit Shah: Why Raje spoke like a bigot

Vasundhara Raje, et tu? Even Romans would have been shocked to hear the genteel chief minister of Rajasthan speak like Amit Shah. ‘We’ll see who is cut into pieces after elections,’ is certainly not Raje; these are definitely not words from her lexicon. The real surprise is not that she spoke like a street bully at a rally in Saharanpur. The real question to ponder is this: What is making a liberal like Raje morph into a clone of the Shahs and Masoods? Is it peer pressure? Or is it just the compulsions of Narendra Modi brand of politics? Raje is one of the few BJP leaders who is not considered a hardliner; by no stretch of argument is she a closet practitioner of communal politics like some other BJP leaders. Raje may have a thousand flaws, but nobody can accuse her being divisive. [caption id=“attachment_1451931” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Vasundhara Raje in this file photo. AFP[/caption] In fact, she is one of the few in the BJP who is trusted by the minorities. This became clear in the run up to the Vidhan Sabha elections when large number of Muslims started attending her election rallies. Her followers had often pointed at her acceptance among Muslims as a sign of her bright future. Before Modi became a fait accompli as a PM candidate in the BJP, some Raje loyalists would weigh her chances as a possible contender because of her impeccable secular credentials. Aware of her secular image, Raje had not flinched from the M word. She had repeatedly called herself a representative of the 36 quam of the state. And nobody doubted it. So, why did Raje speak like a bigot at Saharanpur? Let us first look at the simpler explanation. Perhaps, and this happens many times with Raje, she didn’t know what she was saying. Often in the past, Raje has been known to read a written speech without vetting it carefully. Sometimes, she just recites lines handed over to her by party workers on the stage. If that be the case, Raje is at best guilty of trusting a stupid speech writer. But it could also be politics. Over the past few months, Raje has been making a conscious effort to become part of the Modi camp. Before Modi’s rise in the BJP, she was more of an LK Advani follower. But she quickly crossed over to Modi’s side before the Vidhan Sabha polls. Not many in Rajasthan missed the fact that her mentor Advani was not invited to address a single election rally. Her Madhya Pradesh colleague Shiv Raj Chauhan, in contrast, had not only invited Advani to the Bhopal rally addressed by Modi but had also publicly displayed his emotions by touching the veteran’s feet. Raje may now be toeing the hardliner line to drop crude hints that her proximity to the Modi camp is not only just physical but also ideological. Her combative words, her uncultured belligerence are signs that Raje is ready for the Modi era of politics in the BJP. By sacrificing her core beliefs Raje is simply displaying her new loyalties.