Political Backdrop to the Carnage

Crime Against Humanity 
Volume I An inquiry into the carnage in Gujarat 
List of Incidents and Evidence 
By Concerned Citizens Tribunal -Gujarat 2002

Political Backdrop to the Carnage

The political backdrop of the Gujarat carnage is not insignificant given the cynical use of com-munal violence by political parties of all hues in the past. Having assumed power in Gujarat in 1998after winning by an overwhelming two-thirds majority, the BJP has since been suffering defeat inlocal elections for reasons that need not be gone into here.

In the panchayat, taluka and district elections that took place in 2000, two-thirds of the areaswere won by Congress. That was the first major defeat BJP suffered after coming to power. Inthe elections to six municipal corporations, to 25 district panchayats and to the closer-to-the-ground taluka elections held simultaneously in December 2000, the BJP lost heavily. It lostcontrol in almost all the district panchayats. It retained four of the six municipalities but its twolosses were in the most prestigious municipalities of Ahmedabad and Rajkot, where the SanghParivar had its strongest foothold. The BJP had held the Ahmedabad corporation for the last15 years and Rajkot for the last 25 years. The Congress party was the biggest beneficiary of theBJP’s electoral reversals.

In September 2001, the BJP lost to the Congress in the by-elections for two assembly seatsthat were held. Shortly after that debacle, chief minister Keshubhai Patel was replaced byNarendra Modi in a bid to arrest the party’s dwindling fortunes in a state that the Sangh Parivarconsiders to be the ‘Laboratory of Hindutva’. However, in by-elections held on February 24,2002, for three assembly seats, all of which were held previously by the BJP, it lost two ofthem by heavy margins to the Congress. Modi was elected from Rajkot, the third constituency,but by a much-reduced margin as compared to the previous poll.

Given the continuous downslide of the BJP in the state since ’98, the question has been raisedby many as to whether there were any electoral-political calculations and machinations behindwhat subsequently happened in the state from February 28 onwards. While this remains in therealm of speculation, the fact is that the Modi government prematurely dissolved the state assem-bly and pushed very hard for early elections even though the situation in the state was far fromnormal. For this he was widely criticised and the BJP was charged for trying to cash in on thecarnage. The impression certainly gained ground that with the BJP consistently losing at the grass-root level and with assembly elections in the offing, Modi cynically tried to use the politics ofdivision and violence to gain a fresh mandate from the people. That his plan was frustratedbecause of the assessment of the Chief Election Commissioner, JM Lyngdoh that in the prevail-ing circumstances, a free and fair poll was not possible in Gujarat reaffirms the common citizens’faith in constitutionalism and the rule of law.