Column

It is amusing to recall that on Friday, before the election results were revealed, the various small parties were behaving like children preparing a wish list for Santa Claus. Except that this was not about a model train, or a doll, or that Xbox game. The AIADMK wanted the government of its bitter rival, the DMK, dismissed and elections held; Nitish Kumar wanted Rs1,000 crore for Bihar; Mayawati dreamed of everyone beating a path to her door begging her to become prime minister. Others had more modest demands — a ministry here, an ambassadorship there. The castles grew bigger and bigger, except that they were all in the air.

It is equally funny now to see how each of them has reacted after the reality of the elections has sunk in. Lalu Yadav and Amar Singh are contrite and humble - "We should have gone with the Congress." Jayalalithaa is silent. Mayawati, being more combative, has come out and blamed the Muslims! The queue outside 10, Janpath, is getting longer by the minute.

If there is one lesson that can be drawn from the Congress's victory, it is this: identity politics has its limitations. In the post-Mandal era, when VP Singh, to save his own seat, unleashed the monster of OBC reservations, casteist parties came into their own. They promised jobs and other goodies to their caste members. Being an OBC became so lucrative that other groups, such as the Gurjars and the Marathas, went on the rampage to seek "backward status".

There is nothing wrong with seeking the upliftment of minorities that have faced discrimination (though, of course, we seem to be carrying it to ridiculous lengths), but these parties were only interested in building up a caste base. Each party became an agency to deliver favours, but did not throw in all-round development in the mix.
Lalu Yadav, long hailed by devotees of the Mandal prescription, did nothing for his home state except bring it to rack and ruin during his tenure. Mulayam Singh was once a promising rebel, but his secularism garb proved to be a sham when he brought Kalyan Singh into the fold. On the other hand, Nitish Kumar, who comes from a similar background as the other two, is being hailed as a messiah because of his attempts to introduce governance to Bihar.

A more interesting example of identity politics is the attempt by Dravidian politicians to rake up the Eelam issue. The war in Sri Lanka and the influx of refugees into India were expected to rouse the anger of Indian Tamils. Demonstrations in Tamil Nadu got the populace worked up and the DMK was trying to balance its love for Prabhakaran and its alliance with the Congress. Jayalalithaa sensed an opening and jumped in with a stout endorsement for the Tamil Eelam (homeland), totally contrary to everything she stood for. Every analyst worth his salt was convinced she would sweep the elections.
What happened? She performed relatively poorly and all those politicians - such as Vaiko, who had try to whip up pro-LTTE emotions - lost the election.

Indians have multiple identities and there is little doubt that caste and linguistic identities do matter to them. They think of themselves as Hindu, Muslim or Christian - but not in a way that is in any way detrimental to another. They want peaceful co-existence. Come election time, they also think about basics like jobs, security and all-round governance. Most of all, the sense of a pan-Indian identity which was always present in India, but had faded into the background, is now coming back.

The Congress spoke about the aam aadmi in 2004, and during these five years, followed up that slogan with welfare schemes that gave paid work to millions of poor, rural Indians. It made commitments to raising the standard of religious minorities and said it would implement the recommendations of the Sachar Committee. It stayed away from casteism, communalism or any other ism that would appeal to the baser instincts of voters.

The results speak for themselves. Voters have collectively said they are Indian and will not be impressed with any message that alienates them from their fellow Indians. All those parties that are into identity politics must take heed. Their time is up and they have only two choices - reinvent themselves or risk oblivion.