Commentary/Saisuresh Sivaswamy

It is evident that the Congress stands to gain most by what has been going on in Maharashtra

The two days of blood-letting in Maharashtra has shown up many things, shown up many people. But its most important denouement is that whether it is the badlands of Bihar or the wannable-Manhattanesque Mumbai, caste is not a factor that can be overlooked in the larger scheme of things.

Maharashtra being more industrialised, more advanced than most Indian states, caste tensions are not so palpable or visible. But they are very much there, and often it takes only a minor incident to set off a conflagration. In Bombay over the weekend, the authorities, lulled into complacency by the superficial communal harmony, first failed to react properly before panicking into over-reaction. The result was there for all to see.

Vivid betacam images have been transported via satellite halfway across the globe, and the world saw that Bombay or Patna, India is just the same. Now that the damage has been done, we are witnessing the next phase of political operations -- namely, apportioning the blame.

Is the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party to blame for the desecration of B R Ambedkar's statue and its violent aftermath? If you listen to the Congressmen, you will believe that not only did the Sainiks deliberately garland the statue with chappals, they also ordered the State Reserve Police to open fire on innocents. But if your can believe this, you will believe almost everything that is told to you.

This scenario does not explain why dalit mobs virtually thrashed one of the pillars of their community and a former minister in the Congress regime, Ramdas Athavle. Nor does it explain why one of the leading Congress figures in the state, Sainik-turned-Congress minister Chhagan Bhujbal first insisted on a judicial probe into the incident before backtracking.

In politics, most actions can be traced to their origin through the oldest expedient -- namely, the single largest beneficiary. Often a miasma of bombast and misstatements obscure this, but it is not so major as to hide the truth altogether. Using the expedient, it is simple to find out who benefits most from setting Bombay on fire.

First, the Shiv Sena-BJP government. The state government has been in power for a little more than two years. When it assumed office, not many gave it much chance of lasting beyond a year. The Congress, it was argued, was still the single largest party, and it was only a matter of time before the Independent legislators supporting the Shiv Sena-BJP reverted to their senses.

That, alas, has not happened. On the contrary, the alliance has gone from strength to strength. The real test of a party's popularity is its performance not in the Lok Sabha or assembly polls, but in the grassroot zilla parishad and municipal elections. And even here, the Sena-BJP has been able to replace the Congress. In the two years, there have not been communal riots in the state; nor have there been anti-dalit, anti-Muslim or anti-south Indian incidents.

In short, the state government's copybook has been clean, certainly cleaner than that of the preceding Congress government.

The government has been trying to hardsell Bombay and Maharashtra as the alternative to Hong Kong. And both the BJP and the Sena know that the state needs to remain tranquil before investors turn their attention to it. So there is no reason why the alliance partners should set off a death-dance right in the heart of Bombay -- and that too while the state assembly is in session.

Yes, the state government, through its agencies, has been guilty of mishandling the situation grossly. It failed to fathom the depth of public anger; its authority. The State Reserve Police opened fire to kill, and no one has been held responsible for this mindless act. But the government's errors have been one of omission, not commission. That honour rests elsewhere.

By the same yardstick employed earlier, who benefits most by embarrassing the state government at a time when the assembly is in session? For a party that has been in rigor mortis for two years, the past week has seen tremendous activity, with political morchas galore. Which party has shown before that when it comes to scoring brownie points in politics, it has little qualms (for those who demur, please recall the anti-Muslims riots of 1992-1993) or few compunctions?

Thus, it is evident it is the Congress which stands to gain most by what has been going on in the state the last few days.

The dalits know it, which is why they chose to vent their anger on a man like Athavle -- who, for all his militancy as a youth, turned a dove and meekly accepted a ministership in Sharad Pawar's Congress government -- and spared the other stalwart, Prakash Ambedkar, of their wrath. For the dalit masses Athavle's action was a matter of betrayal. From the Shiv Sena BJP they had little expectations, while it was the Congress that repeatedly let them down.

Of course, the Congress has been quick to seize the initiative. It also goes well with its newly elected president's resolve to galvanise the organisation, but the manner in which it is being sought to be achieved in Maharashtra does not enthuse one. Is power achieved at the cost of innocents's blood really worth it?

Saisuresh Sivaswamy will appear on the Rediff Political Chat on Thursday, July 18, 2200 hours IST (1130 hours EDT) to discuss the Bombay riots. Be there!

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