Tiger, tiger burning bright

In Gujarat, the Shiv Sena is hoping to fill the void created by the BJP by diluting its `Hindu card''. This was evident, writes MANAS DASGUPTA, during the recent civic elections.

THE MUMBAI-BASED Shiv Sena is trying to enter Gujarat in a big way. The ``Maharashtra Tigers'' had always been active in their communally-sensitive neighbouring State, but the total dominance of the BJP and the absence of a big name under its banner had been keeping the Shiv Sena at bay so far.

The growing unpopularity of the ruling BJP at different levels and the non-existence of an effective Opposition to take advantage of the situation seems to have encouraged the Sena to make a foray into Gujarat once again.

The BJP president, Mr. Bangaru Laxman's call to Muslims to join his party has given the Sena an opportunity to project itself as the ``only protector'' of Hinduism and cash in on the prevailing communal sentiments in the State.

The unsolicited and unannounced sudden visit to riot-hit Ahmedabad city by a high-level Sena team earlier this week was not an isolated event but part of a planned intrusion into BJP territory.

The poll-related violence in the communally hyper-sensitive Dariapur locality in Ahmedabad on September 17, in which six persons were killed in police firing on the spot and a young Sena activist died of injuries three days later, may have only hastened the process.

The Sena is hoping to fill the void created by the BJP by diluting its ``Hindu card'' and cash in on the strong communal sentiments prevailing in the only BJP-ruled State in the country.

The Sena was not merely content with fielding 37 candidates in the municipal corporation elections in Ahmedabad; for the first time it saw a chance of actually winning some seats to make its presence felt in Gujarat. Unlike in the previous elections, its campaigning this time was most aggressive, particularly in the mixed localities, creating a communal divide.

Not even the BJP leaders have any doubt that differences with the Sena are widening both at the national and the State levels. The Union Minister for Heavy Industries, Mr. Manohar Joshi, and his Cabinet colleague, Mr. Suresh Prabhu, did not mince words in blasting the Keshubhai Patel Government for the Dariapur riots. Their criticism was stronger than even the Congress(I)'s.

The State administration was definitely caught napping in the Dariapur incident and the available police force was found wanting. But ever since the elimination some five years ago of don Abdul Latif, who ruled the roost in Dariapur, the locality did not witness violence during any of the elections. The authorities were concentrating more on the neighbouring Shapur and Jamalpur areas.

Just as the Congress(I) was worried over the presence of the Muslim Vikas Manch fearing division of the secular votes, the BJP was feeling uncomfortable over the Shiv Sena joining the fray.

Both the Congress(I) and the Shiv Sena were extra vigilant about the bogus voting by burqa-clad women. One such incident in a polling booth led to violence and the subsequent police firing.

The mob that went to the Tamboo Chowkie police outpost included both Hindus, particularly a large number of Shiv Sainiks, to demand police intervention to check bogus voting, and Muslims to complain about alleged eve-teasing of women inside the booth by Sena activists.

The two groups soon started pelting stones at each other and the police, far outnumbered, quickly resorted to firing. The retreating mob indulged in a stabbing spree turning a political scuffle into a communal disturbance.

While the judicial inquiry ordered will go into the justification of the police firing, the Home Secretary, Mr. K. Nityanandan, however, agrees that the police might have acted ``too soon and too harshly'' in firing 89 rounds killing seven people and injuring 30 others.

The intention was to contain the disturbances within Dariapur to allow elections to go on uninterrupted in the rest of the city, Mr. Nityanandan argued.

The Dariapur incident should serve as an eye-opener to both the BJP as a party and its Government in the State. The growing disenchantment among the die-hards of the Sangh Parivar over the BJP diluting its Hindu card will provide an opportunity for the Shiv Sena to break into its citadel.

The former MLA, Mr. Yatin Oza, joining its ranks could give the Sena the necessary boost and it will not be surprising if more disgruntled elements within the State BJP follow suit in the coming days.

The entry of the Shiv Sena may herald the end of the BJP's monopoly over the majority community votes in Gujarat.

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