Modi government's Bharat Ratna selection: A subtle message to friends and foes

KNOWLEDGE SIR

The Modi government on the eve of Republic Day announced names of  Bharat Ratna recipients for 2019. This year Bhupen Hazarika and Nanaji Deshmukh have been given Bharat Ratna posthumously, along with former President Pranab Mukherjee who also got the highest civilian honour of the country.

Very few can question the choices made by the government as each of these three individuals are doyens in their field. Pranab Mukherjee, a consummate politician, has dedicated his entire life to public service finally bringing his political life to close after becoming President. He also enjoyed a rare bipartisan respect for his statesmanship, knowledge about laws and Parliament etiquettes. Bhupen Hazarika is truly an icon of Assamese music, who brought North-East to the mainstream consciousness through his mellifluent voice.  And Nanaji Deshmukh is one of the most iconic leaders from the RSS stable, who spent his life in building the organisation of BJP's parent unit Jana Sangha in India's most populous state Uttar Pradesh. He was the torch-bearer of Deenadayal Upadhyay's integral humanism ideology. Deshmukh was a strident critic of the Emergency and also played a key role in establishment of first non-Congress government in Uttar Pradesh and Centre.

So, except the blatant partisan, hardly anyone will question the merit of giving Bharat Ratna to these three individuals. But in an election year, these kind of marquee choices are also about political messaging and the government gets that bang on with its Bharat Ratna picks. Pranab Mukherjee is a politician who was passed over for the top job, despite having all the requisite credentials. Many believe it was because of his old feud with Rajiv Gandhi, which even lead to Mukherjee leaving the party to float his own unit for a brief time. However, the Family redeemed it to an extent by making Pranab Mukherjee the President.

As first Citizen, Mukherjee also managed to get along well with PM Modi. Both came from different political ideology, yet there was deep respect from the understanding that the common goal is betterment of the country. Mukherjee being given the top honour is a message that the government is not partisan in its selection and is willing to celebrate achievements even of a political adversary. Contrast to that of UPA, which never bothered to honour Atal Bihari Vajpayee with such accolades and NDA can legitimately claim the moral high-ground.

Some have speculated about the possible political impact of this decision in West Bengal, a key battleground state in 2019. It is too early to say whether it would have any positive impact, but surely it doesn't have any downsize. One needs to remember that even Mamata Banerjee who initially had opposed Pranab Mukherjee's candidature as President changed track after gauging public mood. So the people are likely to warm up to BJP for honouring a Bengali with highest civilian honour. Bengali sub-nationalism is a powerful calling card and BJP which so far has lacked connect owing to absence of a strong regional leader may just get a foot in with this decision.

North-East again is a crucial electoral block, particularly since 2019 polls is likely to go down to the wires. The Citizenship Amendment Bill which has got passed in Lok Sabha has lead to heartburns among people in the region. In Assam, BJP is looking to firefight against mounting pushback against this bill. At that time, Bhupen Hazarika getting Bharat Ratna will help BJP to slightly change the narrative, to use the reset button in the current discourse.

As for Nanaji Deshmukh, he was from Maharashtra who spent major parts of his life in Uttar Pradesh impressed by Guru Hedgewar and Deenadayal Upadhyay. Both the states are very critical to BJP's fortunes in the coming elections. A united opposition would like to take the wind out of BJP's sail in these two seats. At that time, the party needs to rejuvenate its base, to increase turnout of its core voters. And what better way than to enthuse the dedicated workers than honouring a leader, who spent his life in the organisation, rejecting lure of ministerial posts. A follower of Tilak, Nanaji spent his life in promoting the nationalistic ideology doing stellar job in the education sector. It is a message to the cadres that BJP remains committed to the well-being of its workers and now is the time to give them steadfast support.