Question is, why deny reality, or is it yet another example of misleading political correctness? Certainly, it defies logic. Throughout the campaigning, there was nothing else but talk of Muslims for Maha Vikas Aghadi and Hindus for Mahayuti dominating the discourse. Then, suddenly, on the evening before polling day, cash comes into play, along with the dazzling electoral possibilities of the mysterious crypto currency, the Bitcoin!

Also crop and caste, two issues which are endemic to Maharashtra. NCP (Sharad Pawar) working president Supriya Sule was accused of “crypto fraud” along with Congress state unit Chief Nana Patole. This after the BJP’s Vinod Tawade was charged with the crime of “cash for votes”, after a lot of hard liquid cash was found in his keep. Sule became the issue and Tawade became the issue. But whatever happened to Muslim and Hindu? Wasn’t there saturation coverage of Muslims putting pressure on MVA to fulfill certain demands specific to the Muslim community in return for en bloc Muslim votes?

Wasn’t there also realization in the opposite camp that Hindus must ape Muslims and vote en bloc for the BJP? Throughout campaigning no media spoke of cash, caste, crop and crypto; media only gave saturation coverage to Hindu and majoritarian, and Muslim and minority appeasement. Didn’t the All India Muslim Personal Law Board promise to vote for the Maha Vikas Aghadi if the MVA promised to fulfill 17 Muslim recommendations? Didn’t prominent Muslim scholars warn the MVA of what awaited them if the Muslim community was left in the lurch on the Waqf Board amendments?

The point being made is that all through campaigning nothing dominated the discourse more than Hindu and Muslim. Star campaigners of all political parties, from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Sharad Pawar, from Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde, from Devendra Fadnavis to Asaduddin Owaisi, every one of them fanned to flames issues concerning Hindu and Muslim. They went to key constituencies and harangued each other with dog-whistles.

To some extent 'caste' figured but 'cash', 'crypto' and 'crop' didn’t debut till towards the final days of the campaigning. Then again, isn’t it a fact that “caste” went under an avalanche of ‘Hindu-Muslim’ except when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi cut through Maharashtra with 'Caste Census' on his tongue? ‘Maratha Reservation’ was an election issue, but the demand for a ‘Caste Census’ went under the bus when the BJP took to ‘Batenge toh katenge’. If any slogan rang loud and clear throughout the electioneering, it was the Yogi’s ‘BTK’.

If caste, crop, and cash had set the tone, then why did posters and hoardings displaying ‘Batenge toh katenge’ remain aloft and stuck throughout the campaigning?

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was the most sought-after BJP campaigner, more sought-after than even Prime Minister Narendra Modi. And the Yogi did not waste breath on "cash, crop and caste", he stuck to ‘BTK’ in answer to Muslims resorting to voting en bloc. The fact is, cash, crop and caste weren't the main factors at play, not even the splits in the NCP founded by Sharad Pawar, and in the Shiv Sena, founded by Balasaheb Thackeray, mattered at the end of the day.

The political realignments following the twin splits was also why 'secular' and 'Hindutva' became the defining factors. This was the first assembly polls after the break-ups and both fronts, Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi, were banking on ‘Hindutva’ and 'Secular' to trounce the other. These elections were the first opportunity for the Mahayuti to avenge the drubbing it received in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The Mahayuti managed to win only 17 out of the 48 seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party realised that only a dramatic dependence on 'Hindutva' would help it avenge the defeat.

The Maharashtra assembly elections came six months after the Lok Sabha elections, and nothing much had changed in this short period. Also, cash, crop and caste were not recent discoveries. But a realignment of forces based on Hindu versus Muslim had a new ring to it. The realignment had to come at some time, what better than at this time? Especially, when there is less than a 1% difference in the vote-shares of the two alliances?

Doubting Thomas' who are deflecting to "cash-crop and caste" need to refocus. Have they forgotten 'Haryana'? Haryana was won on the anvil of 'BTK' and RSS cadres fanning out to all corners of Haryana. In Maharashtra, too, RSS workers have been into all nooks and corners with the mantra which won them Haryana against all predictions. Will "carpet-bombing the electorate with sops and schemes", such as monthly income support scheme and the Mukhya Mantri Ladki Bahin Yojana, land Chief Minister Eknath Shinde yet another term? Maybe not, but hitting out at Aurangzeb and raising a ruckus over "Hindu-Muslim" will land Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis the Chief Minister's chair!

Towards the end of the campaigning, a number of issues, like the Dharavi Redevelopment Project, the flight of projects and jobs from Maharashtra to Gujarat, and "Gautam Adani met Amit Shah to discuss regime change" also cropped up, but none of them raised as much dust as 'Hindu-Muslim'. Ask Muslim leaders and Islamic scholars and they will divulge. "Cash, crop, caste and crypto" make little impression on the Muslim vote-bank bent on achieving a political goal. If the Mahayuti loses, the 'Yogi from UP' should depart to his Gorakhpur Mutt and wait for Akhilesh Yadav's bulldozer! (IPA Service)