BJP To Give 'Proper Response' To U Stalin's Sanatan Dharma Remarks
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2023-09-07 08:23:52
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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
The BJP has latched on to the statements of Udhayanidhi Stalin on Sanatan Dharma to make things difficult for the I.N.D.I.A alliance. It was obvious that disregarding the context in which Stalin made the remarks, BJP and its satellite organizations would have a field day slamming him. Even the sadhus have jumped in the fray with one of them, obnoxiously, dangerously and illegally, declaring a bounty of Rs 10cr on his head. The BJP never misses a chance to counter any real or perceived slur against Hinduism and if it comes from the son of a leading light of the opposition alliance, the backlash is obviously going to be massive. Prime Minister Modi has reportedly instructed his ministers to give'proper response' to Stalin's remarks. This means that the confrontation is going to get sharper in the coming days.
It is clear that the BJP finds that this is a huge opportunity to further consolidate its Hindu vote bank and make things difficult for the constituents of the opposition alliance in the Hindi belt. It will obviously ignore the context (the caste system) in which Stalin made the remarks and will assign the commonly-understood meaning of Sanatan Dharma to slam him for calling for a 'genocide' of Hindus as Stalin had categorically equated sanatam to malaria, dengue and corona and said that it should be eradicated.
Furthermore, the BJP will definitely criticize the Congress and other alliance parties for either supporting Stalin or not vehemently opposing his remarks. If the BJP does indeed make an issue out of this, as it will definitelydo following PM Modi's directive to ministers, the opposition alliance will find itself in a difficult position. Any explanations they offer are unlikely to resonate with the targeted voters, as the BJP will exploit the fear of Hinduism being under threat if the I.N.D.I.A alliance, with the DMK as one of its constituents, comes to power. Unintentionally, Stalin has handed the BJP a powerful tool to use against the alliance.
