National

Why Amit Shah May Not Fire MoS Home Ajay Mishra?

by TestHostEntry

Senior sources in the Government told the media Wednesday that the minister will not step down despite the SIT’s findings into the Lakhimpur Kheri Case.

The Supreme Court appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the Lakhimpur Kheri tragedy, revealed this week that the incident was as per a ‘pre-planned conspiracy’ that led to the death of five people, and left several injured. The cops probing the case made it clear that the accident did not occur due to negligence in driving, vindicating the farmers’ version of the incident.

Local farmers had blamed Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra ‘Teni’ and his son Ashish Mishra for the violence that left eight dead, including four farmers a local journalist, and others during a farmers’ protest. They were mowed down by a vehicle that was part of the convoy of the Minister in Lakhimpur Kheri in north-central Uttar Pradesh. Farmers had alleged that the minister’s son was driving the car that killed the protesting farmers and a journalist.

The submission by the SIT in court has come at a critical time, when the saffron party is eying to retain its power in the Northern state of Uttar Pradesh, the Hindu heartland of India. Uttar Pradesh will go to assembly polls in the first half of 2022 with four other states.

With his son being already arrested, the demands for resignation of MoS Home Ajay Mishra have only grown louder. To make the matters worst for himself and the party, the minister lost his cool on reporters yesterday and hurled abuses at them after being questioned on his son.

The opposition has renewed its attack, slamming the centre, for not yet firing Ajay Mishra from the Union cabinet. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi upped the ante in parliament today, calling the minister “a criminal” and demanding that he either be sacked or resign.

“We should be allowed to speak about the murder that was committed in Lakhimpur Kheri… where there was an involvement of the Minister and about which it has been said that it was a conspiracy,” he was quoted as saying, inside Parliament, by news agency ANI.

However, many media houses Wednesday reported that Ajay Mishra will not step down according to Government sources. Senior sources in the Government told the media that the minister will not step down despite the SIT’s findings into the Lakhimpur Kheri Case.

In this article, let us look at the possible reasons why the BJP’s central leadership is hesitant to fire the tainted minister.

The Yogi-Modi beef

Last year, soon after the BJP was royally defeated by Mamata Banerjee-led TMC in West Bengal, there were reports of growing discontent and friction between the BJP’s central leadership (Narendra Modi, Amit Shah) and state leadership (Yogi Adityanath). Though the reasons for the central leadership’s disillusionment with Yogi Adityanath were not made clear by the saffron party, many figured that it was perhaps because of the Yogi’s mishandling of the second wave of Covid-19, during which dead bodies were witnessed floating in river Ganga. Yogi’s growing popularity among the Hindu right could possibly have been another reason for Modi’s concerns, foreseeing the probable competition to his stature in the BJP.

Many political pundits saw PM Modi sending his one of the most trusted bureaucrats Arvind Kumar Sharma to UP as a signal of rift between him and Yogi. Sharma, the retired IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, was later elected as an MLC and also handed over the responsibility of the party’s state vice president. The appointment was seen as a Modi’s way of keeping Yogi under a watch and sending a message that he’s still the boss.

Though the BJP made it clear that it will fight the assembly polls with Yogi at its CM candidate, it will not consider conceding to the demands of Ajay Mishra’s resignation. The reason- Yogi Adityanath, who’s fighting for another term as CM, would not appreciate Mishra ruining the prospects of him becoming CM again. On the other hand, Mishra is an appointee in union cabinet by the central leadership of the party, and letting him go would mean taking a back seat and allowing their hiree to be humiliated.

The Brahmin vote bank

Caste is a living reality of Uttar Pradesh, no matter how hard we try to ignore it. The Brahmin community happens to be the BJP’s traditional vote bank. A post-poll survey of CSDS-Lokniti says that more than 80% Brahmins voted for BJP in 2019 general elections – a continuation of pattern which started in 2014. The community continued its support to the BJP in 2017 UP state elections which brought Yogi Adityanath to power.

However, five years down the line after the saffron party raised its flag in the country’s biggest and most significant electoral battlefield, Brahmins still feel alienated and insecure.

The concerns came to the fore when a Brahmin MLA from BJP, Devmani Tripathi, raised an array of questions in the state assembly, which left the ruling establishment red-faced and thinking.

The aftermath of police encounter of gangster Vikas Dubey has had serious implications in the politics of Uttar Pradesh, especially in relation to the Brahmin society.

The arrest of Vijay Mishra, MLA from Gyanpur from NISHAD party, who was once said to be close to the Yogi Adityanath government, has snowballed into another controversy. Arrested in connection with 73 criminal cases, Mishra has alleged that there is a mafia government in power in the state.

To pacify the anger of Brahmin community, it is said, the BJP brought in Jitin Prasada of Congress. For the very same reason, the BJP inducted Ajay Mishra in the union cabinet during the reshuffle in July this year. Removing Mishra from the union cabinet now may again bring fury of the BJP’s most trustworthy voters.

Dent to strongman image

Narendra Modi’s strongman image is his asset, but also a disadvantage. His followers revere him for his determination to not back down on his policies and decisions.

However, the recent repeal of three farm laws, after one year long stand-off with farmers, has dealt a blow to Modi’s strongman image. For someone who’s seen as invincible, bows down to pressure by opposition, it does not send a great message to his core fanbase.

Modi chose to repeal farm laws after one year of his government’s attempts to label farmers as ‘Khalistanis’ and misguided section of society to discredit their agitation, a similar strategy that he used to suppress the anti-CAA protests. Modi did not opt for removal of Mishra from union cabinet even when his son was arrested for mowing down farmers. Mishra has continued in the cabinet for almost two months since the Lakhimpur tragedy happened. After Modi conceded to farmers’ and opposition’s demands on farm laws, if he chooses to fire Mishra, his followers will see that as another U-turn by him. It will also dent his strongman image, built over the years.

As Rahul Gandhi had said in the past, “Mr Modi is a prisoner of his own image”.

A pattern

This is not the first time that BJP minister or leader has come under scrutiny for their comments or actions.

In 2020, the Minister of State for Finance, the BJP’s Anurag Thakur, was seen leading a crowd with the slogan “Desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro saalon ko,” a chant inciting listeners to shoot “traitors to the country”, with an expletive thrown in. However, despite a huge furore over the minister’s slogans, he was not even asked for an explanation, let alone be sacked.

Before 2019 general elections, the BJP’s Bhopal candidate Pragya Singh Thakur had said that Nathuram Godse, the man who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi, was a patriot. Her comments outraged people, but the BJP’s leadership was unmoved by it. Modi, when asked about Pragya’s comments, had said that we would never be able to forgive her. However, the BJP did not cancel her nomination and she went on to win the seat.

These past incidents bring us to what senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh had said in 2015. Ruling out any resignations in the Lalit Modi controversy that had engulfed his party, Mr Singh had said: “We are the NDA, not the UPA, there will be no resignation of ministers.

6 years down the line, Rajnath Singh’s words still ring true. No BJP minister, except MJ Akbar, has resigned in the last 7 years owing to the public pressure. The only question that we may ask right now- Will the BJP make an exception in case of Ajay Mishra? Only time will tell.

 

 

 

 

 

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