How BJP plans to emerge victorious from Mandal vs Kamandal 2.0

New Delhi: With the release of the Bihar caste survey, the opposition INDIA bloc has unleashed an attempt at Mandal vs. Kamandal 2.0 ahead of crucial Assembly polls and Lok Sabha 2024. The Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to go on the offensive against the opposition’s move by aggressively working on a three-pronged strategy.

As part of its offensive against Mandal 2.0, the BJP will attack the opposition with allegations of attempted division of Hindu votes through the release of these survey numbers. The fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who hails from the Other Backward Class Teli community, will also be widely utilized. While the final and trump card against the opposition INDIA, the BJP hopes, would be the unveiling of the Ram Janmbhoomi Temple in Ayodhya.

The first part of the saffron strategy’s implementation was evident today as PM Modi launched a scathing attack on the opposition at a rally in Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh where he said, “Congress wants to divide Hindus. For me, the poor of this country are the biggest caste. A poor person has the first claim on the resources.”

PM Modi also alleged that there was a conspiracy against the country, “We have to be alert with Congress and allies who are conspiring against India. Congress had divided society on the line of caste for vote bank politics.”

The saffron unit feels that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, hailing from the Other Backward Class Teli community, is one of its biggest assets as Kamandal hopes to trump Mandal 2.0 next year.

Sources stated that the opposition would not be able to attack the government so sharply on the backward caste representation issues as PM Modi also hails from the oppressed classes, a fact that has been repeated in highly caste-sensitive polls earlier. It was felt that in its previous avatar, the BJP was unable to defend itself from these caste-based attacks as its top leadership was confined to the so-called upper castes of Brahmins, Thakurs and Banias. “But in today’s scenario the situation has completely changed with PM Modi leading the saffron forces,” sources pointed out.

The third and most important factor to tackle Mandal 2.0 being considered by the BJP is Ram Temple. With Ram Janmbhoomi Temple in Ayodhya also set to be inaugurated in January next year, just ahead of the general elections, the BJP feels that it could be the most important unifying factor for the Hindus. The temple construction will be showcased as an unprecedented event and the culmination of a 500-year-old aspiration of Hindus across the world. This is expected to unite all castes and communities under the umbrella of Sanatan Dharma ahead of the crucial polls next year when PM Modi is set to seek his third term in office.

As per the Bihar government survey OBCs and EBCs constitute more than 63 percent of its population. While the general category is only 15.5 per cent of the population.

The survey data was revealed at a crucial juncture ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, as the opposition tries to create a stir for a similar caste-based census in other states. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is also likely to hold an all-party meeting today to present the findings of the census.

Despite an attempt by the INDIA bloc to create fissures in the Hindu vote bank by making public the caste survey figures in Bihar, the BJP is silently confident of a victory over Mandal 2.0 to secure 2024 Lok Sabha polls by working on its political counter-strategy.