US Secretary of State Antony Blinken with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, January 9: There appears muted assessments of the likely impact of the Israel-Hamas War in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections even while parts of the world have seen strong protests against the killings of civilians in Gaza. Israel is apparently a common link in slump in India’s relations with Maldives, and the world of political academia is now lensing the extent of the Gaza factor in the Lok Sabha elections.
The Foreign Affairs in a long commentary quoted Nicolas Blarel, as associate professor at the University of Lieden, suggesting that the Israel-Hamas War would indeed be a factor in the Lok Sabha elections. The American magazine quoted Blarel drawing parallel between the “situations in Gaza and the broadcasting by the BJP’s (Bharatiya Janata Party) alleged counterterrorism credentials”.
The BJP’s poll plank of muscular nationalism has widely been commented upon since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The video footages of the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel had also been richly used on the social media platform in India.
The US-based magazine also quoted Daniel Markey of the United States Institute of Peace claiming that the supporters of the ruling BJP take inspiration from Israel. Markey suggested the magazine that the followers of the ruling dispensation in India see Israel with empathy for facing “the existential threat of Islamist terrorism”.
However, India has not seen notable public protests over situations in Gaza unlike Europe and America. In this backdrop, the international commentators appear keen to examine the appeal of the BJP’s hard sell on muscular nationalism while the quest for the Muslims to regain their strategic voting remains understated.
The Congress appears subtly warming up to the prospects of the Muslims regaining their confidence in the party. The Congress leaders believe that this is not without basis after wresting power in Telangana.
Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi and leader of the party in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chaudhury have been critical of the government amid downward spiral in India’s relations with Maldives. Chaudhury has said that “it’s a matter of concern that Maldives is choosing China over India”. The Congress has also accused the government of diluting India’s long-held position on the issue of Palestine. Yet, the Congress is also seen to be in a bind, fearing that stoking the Gaza issue could only end up giving ammunitions to the BJP’s plank of ‘muscular nationalism’.
Israel too has shown interest in the ‘Maldives versus Lakshadweep’ slugfest on the internet. While the Maldivian government has distanced from three junior ministers who made disparaging remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi with reference to Israel, the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi shared videos and images of Lakshadweep to vouch for the appeal of the beaches in the group of islands.
Political observers opine that the BJP’s runaway success in the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan will be tested in regions where the Muslims have traditionally used tactical voting. The BJP may have to brace up for the electoral challenges in the western parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal where the saffron outfit had bagged a rich haul of the Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 elections.
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