Is Shivraj Singh Chouhan really secular ?

Rakesh Dixit

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been organising a Charismas party at his official residence in Bhopal for many years. He also celebrates Eid, Guru Nanak Jayanti and Hindu festivals with Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus at his Shyamla hills house. The grand multi-religious celebrations have helped him burnish his secular image which translated into huge electoral support in successive elections for his party since he took over in 2006.

So, the Charismas party at his residence on December 26 night should have occasioned no surprise. But it did. This Christmas was celebrated amid raging controversies on the “Ghar Wapsi” and the deliberate observance of good governance day on the birth day of Jesus Christ by the Modi government. The twin rows have justifiably upset the Christian community.  

A shrewd follower of middle path, Chouhan managed to wriggle out of the controversies by observing the good governance day to mark Atal Behari Vajpayee’s birth day on December 25 and celebrating Christmas a day later. Thus, he neither defied the Modi government’s diktat nor the tradition of celebrating Christmas.

His ingenious handling of the RSS concerns on Minorities appeasement without risking the displeasure of the Muslim community was evident on the Eid this year. Unlike 2013, Chouhan desisted from wearing skull cap on 2014 Eid. The 2013 Eid had preceded the assembly election in the state, so it made a good political sense to wear the skull cap. His gesture, though hailed by the liberal-secular media, did not go down well with a large section of the Sangh Parivar. It triggered inevitable comparison between him and Narendra Modi who had famously declined a Muslim clergy’s offer to wear skull cap during harmony march in Gujarat in 2007. But Shivraj was apparently undaunted, primarily for two reasons; one, Narendra Modi  had not become Prime Minister then, and two; Shivraj had set  eye on 12% Muslim votes  in the run up to the assembly election in Madhya Pradesh. 

In fact, Shivraj Singh was so worried about possible fallout of Muslim opposition to Narendra Modi’s anointment as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate that he reportedly urged the party high command to defer  announcement till the assembly election in Madhya Pradesh. Although his plea went unheeded, Shivraj Singh still managed to win the confidence of the state’s Muslim voters. The BJP’s spectacular tally of 165 seats included the   two dozen-odd constituencies where Muslim voters are deciding factor. However, with all the goodwill of the Muslim community the BJP refrained from fielding a single Muslim candidate. But then , the Congress too has a lone Muslim MLA –Arif Aqeel- who would have  won  from his traditional Bhopal ( north )  anyway- Congress or no Congress.

Shivraj’s celebratory display of love to all religions gives rise to the question as to whether he is a genuine respecter of the much-vaunted ‘Sarva Dharm Sambhav’ ? Or, has he assiduously worked on his secular image for votes?

Admittedly, Shivraj was never known to be a rabid fundamentalist even when he was a youth leader during the high noon of the Ayodhya movement. But he was not an Atal Behari Vajpayee either. His fiery speeches as Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha ( BJYM) leader in those days  were redolent of irresponsible  Hindu pride but fell short of  hate mongering. He seemed to take cue from the devious arguments of LK Advani in strident defence of building Ram temple in Ayodhya on  stage. Off-stage, though, he sounded more like Atal Behari Vajpayee. No wonder, Shivraj managed to ingratiate himself to both the leaders. He won from the Vidisha Lok Sabha seat vacated by Vajpayee in 1991 and rose from place to place in next 15 years to become chief minister, courtesy Advani’s    indulgence.

As a student, Shivraj’s approach to ‘Sarva Dharma Sambhav’ was, at best, ambiguous. He cut his political teeth in the RSS in mid-seventies. But those were the years of  soft-Hindutva  when  the underground RSS cadres were fighting  battle for the organisation’s existence  during the  Emergency. Shivraj as a student leader of Model high School in Bhopal was a small foot soldier of the RSS. As such, he went to jail for a while. When in Hamidia college,   he became an active member of  the ABVP, the student wing of the RSS. His skilful oratory earned him student union president ship. His leaning for Hindutva brought him closer to philosophy of Vivekanand.

 In fact, he passed MA in philosophy with gold medal. In those days, he hardly articulated level of tolerance to other religions. But, given his inclination to Vivekananda, it is tempting to assume that his vision was broader than typical RSS volunteer vis-a-vis other religions.  How this assumed broadness played itself out in Shivraj’s dealing with friends is uncertain. He was not known –is still not known —to keep very many friends.  If any of those friends were Christian or Muslim is anybody’s guess. In the subsequent years, especially after he became the chief minister, a large number of Shivraj’s old-time friends have “surfaced” but none of them is either Christian or Muslim.

As chief minister, Shivraj Singh had a tough time taming the extremist elements within and outside the BJP in initial years.  Hindu-Muslim riots in Indore, Rajgarh , Ujjain and several other places in his first innings posed formidable challenge to the chief minister. Frequent vandalism of VHP-Bajrang Dal activists across the state too would give sleepless night to him. Christians all over the state, particularly in tribal region of Dhar and Jhabua felt terrorised by constant bullying of lunatic right wing fringe. It was also the time when  Uma Bharti would pose frequent threats to avenge her humiliation by  toppling the Shivraj government. This troubling combination of threats afforded little time or courage to a  beleaguered Shivraj  to win over the minorities. It was only after he led the BJP to grand victory in the 2008 assembly elections that shivraj felt confident enough to assert his authority in the government. The tradition to celebrate festivals of all religions at the CM house began thereafter.