Awarding the undeserved.

 

A day before the Republic Day, the Home ministry announced the list of recipients of Padma awards. Amongst the names, the face which raised several eyebrows was of the former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Kalyan Singh. Given his dubious role in helping demolition of Babri masjid, listing his name on the honour list is obnoxious.

 Kalyan Singh served twice as the chief minister of the Uttar Pradesh. At the time of Babri Masjid demolition, he was the incumbent chief minister of the state. Because of his failure in not protecting the demolition, he resigned from his post. Considered as an icon of Hindu nationalism, he had been a great advocate for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya.

From Atrauli he started his political career by getting elected as an MLA in 1967. He won nine more elections to that constituency as a member of the BJP and its erstwhile associates. In between, he kept jumping the ships, finally landing on BJP’s. In 2014, he was appointed governor of Rajasthan where he completed his full five-year term. Awarding the second highest civilian award of the nation to a personality who had always echoed the voice Hindutva is utterly objectionable.

 That BJP seems to be losing some ground in the poll-bound state of UP following the exit of some of its prominent OBC leaders. It might be trying to recoup some of the lost ground by towering the figure of Kalyan Singh - another OBC leader. Following reasons may rationalize as to why BJP felt the need of honoring Kalyan Singh when the election is round the corner:

1. 1.  A leader eulogizing hindutva ideology – Kalyan Singh joined RSS while still in school. The basic instincts of hindutva ideology were injected into his blood with which he used to drive a partisan politics. During the time of masjid demolition, he turned a blind eye and resigned the same evening admitting his failure to protect the mosque.

 

2. 2.  A tall OBC leader – With the exit of some of the influential OBC leaders from the party, BJP is in fix. In order to compensate the lost ground and to retain the power in 2022, BJP might have struck the right chord by raising Kalyan Singh as a pioneer. BJP is desperate enough to re-win Uttar Pradesh as the general election is just two years away. OBCs form around 44% of total population of U.P, so its political significance can’t go unnoticed. At the same time, there have been demands from several regional outfits, some being part of NDA government, to conduct OBC census. The central leadership of BJP has kept this demand in abeyance till date.

 

 

3.3. Had deep RSS roots – While still in school, Kalyan Singh took membership of RSS, a right-wing affiliate to the ruling party which believes in strengthening the hindutva ideology. As BJP is notoriously popular for playing communal cards during election, the ascending of Kalyan Singh’s image as a staunch follower of RSS ideology, might work in party’s favour.

 

4. 4.  Failed to arrest the demolition of Babri Masjid – Several times Kalyan Singh was heard accepting his failures in not protecting the bringing down of Babri Masjid. Once he happened to remark that may be he was destined to be the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh so that complete bulldozing could happen. At times, he could be seen justifying the knocking down of the Babri Masjid. Though he resigned the same evening due to his incapability, later on he was appointed as the governor of Rajasthan which provided him momentarily immunity against the court’s actions.  

 

 

Honouring Kalyan Singh with Padma Vibhusan is indeed a serious question mark on the government. Why did government find election time conducive enough for announcing his name? Based on which contributions of his, did government approve his name?

These are a few questions which may go unanswered.

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