s the plight and precarity

s the plight and precarity ofmigrant workers take  centrestage, a pertinent question is about its political bearings.The fact that an overwhelming majority of those precariat are subalterns or DalitBahujans, who, since2014, shifted to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Hindutva in abig way, merits the questionwhether they would rethink theirsaffron link and return to the foldof nonBJP parties. Understandingthis puzzle requires a brief engagement with the structure of subalterneity and its dynamic interplaywith the Hindutva and Muslimquestion in India.Contrasting claimsThere are two contrasting claimsof subalterneity — one oppositional to Hindutva and the other conciliatory towards it. There is a deepfraternity towards Muslims in theoppositional view as they are believed to be low caste Hindus whoconverted to Islam to escape fromBrahmanical Hinduism. Pasmanda politics of the Muslim community is a reciprocal response to thisclaim of oppositional subalterneity. On the other hand, the conciliatory subalterneity which is friendly to Hindutva, heralds  a phenomenon which I term as subalternHindutva, which at present is thedominant political discourse inthe western, central and northernStates of India, and of late hasmade a remarkable entry in theeast, particularly in Bengal by winning over a majority of Dalits andtribes. It takes a constructivist approach of myth building and argues that Muslim rule and a secular discourse of minorityappeasement is responsible fortheir precariat position. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sanghendorsed three volume book by BJPDalit leader Bizay Sonkar Shastriclaiming Dalits to be upper castesbefore the advent of Islam in Indiais a case in point.Back to 2014 To decipher the expected politicalbehaviour of the subalterns in thewake of the current crisis engulfing reverse migrationbound workers, one needs to go back to 2014to deconstruct the phenomenonof the mainstreaming of subalternHindutva which overwhelmed thedemocratic discourse of India except in the southern and  northeastern States. It led to most nondominant Other Backward Classes(OBC) and Dalits abandoning  social justicecentric parties and rallying behind the BJP. Three factorsexplain this shifting alliance of thesubalterns in 2014. One, with the deepening identitarian turn in the democratic discourse since the mid1980s, thenumerically weaker subalterncastes, particularly in the western,central and Hindi heartlandStates, were aspiring to carve  aniche for themselves within thediscourse of subalterneity. Since,the oppositional subalterneity wasvanguarded by dominant OBC andDalit caste leaders, the weakersubaltern caste members felt relatively deprived. Two, the BJP witnessed an electoral decline at the national levelin the 2000s until 2014. However,in its six year stint during NationalDemocratic AllianceI, the partyhad effectively quelled its image asbeing antiMandal and antireservation. Three, by late 2013, when theModi phenomenon appeared  onthe political horizon with a package of subalterneity, Hindutva anddevelopment, the target was twofold: the secular and the oppositional subalterneity. Since bothhad an indispensable Muslim constituency, they became clubbed asone, their ideological incommensurability notwithstanding. Themajority of nondominant OBCsand Dalits nurturing a sense of relative deprivation eagerly embraced both the BJP and Hindutva.It was an active political choice bymajority of the subalterns againstthe secular. It is in this context thatsince 2014 we have witnessed theemergence of a new dialectic — of‘the secular vs the subaltern’.A discourse of solidarityWhat is at stake for the BJP andHindutva in the wake of the ongoing migrant crisis? In other words,if subalterns came to the fold ofthe BJP by willing to bypass secularparties for order, certainty and opportunity packaged as Hindutva’smodel of social justice, would theturmoil in the wake of the novelcoronavirus pandemic change it? The answer lies in the discourseof solidarity that lies behind thespectacular success story of Hindutva’s subaltern outreach. Subaltern Hindutva is premised on theclaims of cultural and political solidarity among Hindus across thespectrum. Thus, it is the perpetualneed and demonstration of solidarity across the Hindu spectrumthat is indispensable for the hegemony of subaltern Hindutva.It must be remembered that unlike Savarkarite Hindutva whichsignified ideological dogmatism ofupper caste Hindus, subalternHindutva weighs more on the instrumental side. The latter is anoutcome of an active political bargain between the subalterns andtraditional proponents of Hindutva. Subalterns carry a thick deal ofpolitical legitimacy and hencethey are needed. Hindutva has theaccommodating space which subalterns need to satiate their democratic desire for political representation. The leadership profile ofthe BJP as a party from the top tothe rank and file, has an impressive presence of the subalterns.Other parties have had to give asubstantial share of these spacesto Muslims; in the BJP’s case, itshares them with subalterns andother caste Hindus, thereby placing the party in an advantageousposition to offer the best deal.Hitherto, the Prime Minister’s personal charisma, his claim to conciliatory subalterneity and the corresponding trust factor havecreated a sense of solidarity between him and the majority of subalterns. Therefore, much of thepolitical attack on him became acollective attack on the subalterns.Criticism of his government and itspolicies from the vantage point ofsecularism versus  communalismmetamorphoses into one of secularism versus subalterneity. Impact on States, OppositionThis throws a semantic challengefor the nonBJP parties endeavouring to employ the language of political economy to privilege material politics over the cultural one.In the past, the cultural solidarityof subalterns with Hindutva, particularly in the Hindi heartland,the prime suppliers of interStatemigrant workers depending uponcash and labour intensive informalsector, sustained the shock therapy of demonetisation.However, equations seem to bechanging now. Media reports andfeedback from the ground in UttarPradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand andWest Bengal, where migrant workers have returned show that thepolitical mood is layered. Unambiguously, they are not happy withthe Prime Minister and the way inwhich they were treated. Hence,there is a clear sign of a waning ofthe sense of solidarity which theyhad for him in the past. There is afeeling of being abandoned by thestate. Nevertheless, there is an interesting twist here. While theyare not happy with the Prime Minister, they are more angry withthe State governments and theirleaders. Hence, in Bihar it is NitishKumar and in West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee. A section of subalternsection in Bengal apparently believes that Ms. Banerjee on a fewoccasions relaxed lockdownnorms for the benefit of the Muslim community. This means, the waning of subaltern solidarity to Hindutva andthe Prime Minister does not translate into a significant change ofpolitical action as there are no alternative solidarities. In fact, giventhat there is a greater degree of anger against the regional parties inthe western and northern Statesalong with West Bengal, it is plausible that the BJP may not suffermuch therein. Economic precarityand material politics do  not succeed in the absence of a powerfulanchor. In the past, the Oppositionwas able to defeat the cultural politics of the BJP on a material plankin States such as Delhi, Jharkhand,Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan andChhattisgarh as it had Statelevelanchors who acted as a bridge between material crisis and its electoral translation. However, the samemay not be true about the nationalscenario as the Prime Ministercombines both, persuasion andpolicy. It is persuasion that holdsthe ground perpetually leavingpolicy weaknesses on the highroad to nowhere. On the otherhand, the prime Opposition party,the Congress, seems to be a partylacking both an effective anchorand programmatic action.  True,the ongoing crisis is fertile groundfor political change, but the will toexecute it is missing. The crisisand political action do not seem tointeract. They exist in parallel.

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