Hate speech cycle

It is raining poison in Karnataka as both Congress and ruling BJP in Karnataka spew hate speeches at each other in a mad slugfest for power. As the campaign gets hotter and louder, speeches become shriller and bitter.Both parties have crossed the boundary as they react to each other’s speech with more venom as reactions leave none in doubt that the worst losers will be the people of Karnataka who have the reputation of being cosmopolitan. The other party, the Janta Dal United, a family party of the Gowdas and currently led by H.D. Kumarswamy, son of former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda is ploughing the field between the two arch enemies who are the main contenders for power. The BJP makes no bones about its majoritarian politics and has never shied away from using communally inflammable speeches. In response, the Congress attempts to tell people they deserve a government that works for the unity and welfare of all people of the state and in the process, its leaders have often crossed the line in attacking Modi and other BJP leaders. Despite being in power, ruling party BJP leaders still speak as if they are in the opposition. The political narrative in Karnataka has degenerated into communal diatribe that offends the people of the state belonging to various castes and communities. Whether it is the BJP scrapping the four percent reservation for Muslims and transferring it to Vokkaligas and Lingayats or the Congress which promised to to hike the reservation ceiling from 50% to 75%, including the restoration of a 4% quota for Muslims; the fact is that both parties are playing vote bank politics. The BJP has promised imposition of Uniform Civil Code(UCC) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) followed up with action to deport all “illegal immigrants”. There is little left to explain what this promise mean for the minority community in the state. On its part, the Congress has promised to return to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), repeal all “unjust laws and anti-people laws passed by the BJP government” within a year of assuming power besides a ban on the Bajrang Dal which the party likened to the banned Popular Front of India (PFI), an Islamic political organisation in India, that engages in a radical and exclusivist style of Muslim minority politics. By promising to ban the Bajrang Dal if it comes to power, the Congress has only invited flak various parts of the state and may have played into the hands of the BJP by being seen as a pro-Muslim party. All these hate filled campaign speeches need to be put down without any hesitation no matter who indulges in it. It is the duty of the Election Commission of India (ECI) to ensure that elections do not degenerate into a free for all for everyone to speak as they please and incite communal hatred and violence. Unfortunately, the ECI appears helpless in taking to task the central leaders of the BJP and that has created a serious crisis of confidence. The opposition criticism of the ECI is not baseless especially during the tenure of Sunil Arora whose handling of hate speeches during the 2019 parliamentary election became hugely controversial. The Supreme Court has directed all states to register FIR against hate speeches and that should remind the ECI on what it has to do.