“Nothing can be above the nation. And the nation will be empowered only when we are united. Batenge toh katenge. You are seeing what is happening in Bangladesh. Those mistakes should not be repeated here... Batenge toh katenge, ek rahenge toh nek rahenge.” This is what Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on August 26 and this phrase “batenge toh katenge” has become a battle cry and almost a rallying call for the entire BJP. The phrase pumped up the party's prospects in Haryana, and in Maharashtra and Jharkhand it has become more pronounced and evident and leaders in fact seem to have coined various synonyms like Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying “Ek hain to safe hain” in the recent Maharashtra rally. What is patently a divisive and heavily polarised comment is now becoming an underlying theme with which BJP is trying to lace its campaign not only in poll-bound states but in other regions as well.
A BJP cadre's brother in Gujarat's Bhavnagar about to get married in November is advertising Yogi's “batoge katoge” remark on his wedding invitation card. On both sides of the quote are pictures of Yogi Adityanath and PM Modi. In between is the photograph of the grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya. “My brother was getting married…I noticed that Hindu society was broken, there was no unity. Then I heard Modi ji speak. It was my small effort to let people know the views of Modi and Yogi," said the party worker. Political support through wedding cards is not new; in fact in 2019 a Gujarati couple tied their knot and in their invitation card explained the “Rafale Truths”, an issue on which Rahul Gandhi had upped the ante during the last Lok Sabha elections. The “Batoge Katoge” remark also got an endorsement from BJP's ideological parent Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh at its Mathura conclave and it is after this that BJP is making this into an overshadowing theme across the state elections. No remorse, no regret, no compunctions but BJP is going ahead with this polarising statement and Yogi Adityanath seems to have enhanced his stature within BJP and RSS after this verbal feat. With this clarion call the UP CM has resurrected the sagging spirit of the BJP which seemed to be on the backfoot because of the agenda of caste census and samvidhan. Yogi by that yardstick pushed the BJP and RSS narrative northwards. The Congress and INDIA bloc are well entitled to brush this aside as a hate agenda, as a polarising gimmick but as long as it is helping the BJP to boost its prospects and there are takers for this distasteful discourse, there needs to be serious introspection as to what has happened to the minds of the people; is there no morality left when it comes to constitutional principles, has political morality been thrown to the winds and are we in clear words saying that we don't need secularism on the pages of our Constitution? If Batoge Katoge is becoming popular and a way of society, shouldn't Yogi Adityanath be admonished, warned or cautioned for this? Sadly none of this is happening; in fact Yogi is being cheered and PM Modi is following his lead to translate this as a universal agenda. PM Modi in his victory speech during the Lok Sabha elections 2024 said that during his third term he will work at a velocity which is three times higher. The time seems to have come for this hate agenda to gain speed threefold. Governance will revolve around this agenda and verbal feats will become more aggressive.
Amidst this brazen abomination to what extent the Mohabbat ki Dukaan will work is anybody’s guess. Will one-to-one yatras help? How will the Opposition counter this hostile agenda which is almost like a spurious injection into minds and hearts? The Congress came up with a poster of “Ek hain to safe hain” with pictures of Modi, Adani, Doval, Amit Shah etc — but did that click? There’s no meter to measure that and since media did not cover it, there were no debates, therefore it was brushed under the carpet as mere rhetoric. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has been constantly talking about this “batoge katoge” remark, and even went to the extent of saying that Yogi should be banished from politics and he should don white clothes, but nothing seems to affect the thick-skinned BJP. If “batoge katoge” is being worn like a badge we as a nation need to ponder. For BJP it might serve a political purpose but in the long run what will it do to the nation's social fabric and how will it impact future generations is something to worry about. What disturbs me as a journalist is how this narrative is becoming the new normal.
Neelu Vyas is a senior television anchor and digital content creator. Twitter: @neeluopines
