[While such bitter political divisions are all too familiar in the United States, they are relatively new in India, the world’s largest democracy. In the seven-phase election that draws to a close here Sunday, India’s politics have increasingly mirrored the United States’: Every issue is filtered through a partisan lens, social media is the scene of rancorous exchanges, and disagreements over politics have strained relationships.]
By
Niha Masih and Joanna Slater
 |
|
Sanjive
and Seema Khanna argue over Prime Minister Narendra Modi at their home
in
Lucknow this month. (Niha Masih/The Washington Post)
|
LUCKNOW,
India — In their 31 years of marriage, Seema and
Sanjive Khanna have fought many times, the way couples do, over the house or
the children or their finances.
But nothing has divided them as bitterly as
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the current Indian election. To Seema, Modi can
do no wrong, but to Sanjive, he has done nothing right.
Sometimes, after they argue about Modi, they
don’t speak to each other for hours. To keep the peace on their daily walks
around the neighborhood, they instituted an informal rule: no talking about
politics.
While such bitter political divisions are all
too familiar in the United States, they are relatively new in India, the
world’s largest democracy. In the seven-phase election that draws to a close
here Sunday, India’s politics have increasingly mirrored the United States’:
Every issue is filtered through a partisan lens, social media is the scene of
rancorous exchanges, and disagreements over politics have strained
relationships.
“People had different opinions earlier as
well, but the atmosphere was never so hostile,” said Niti Saxena, 47, a women’s
rights activist in Lucknow. “This is not healthy.”
And at the heart of the growing divide stands
the towering figure of Modi, who inspires either fervent loyalty or deep
distrust, not unlike President Trump.
Modi was elected in a landslide victory in
2014 and is seeking reelection. He leads the Bharatiya Janata Party, a center-right
political party built around Hindu nationalism, the idea that India — home to a
diversity of religions — is fundamentally a Hindu nation, not a secular
republic.
The ugliness in living rooms and around
dinner tables reflects the polarization “coming from the top,” said Ashutosh
Varshney, a political scientist at Brown University. Modi’s view of politics
divides people into friends and enemies, he said.
“If you have that spirit, you will have
bitterness instead of competitiveness,” Varshney said. “There is no space for
neutral conversation.”
Research confirms that Indian politics is
growing more polarized. A 2017 survey by the Pew Research Center found there
was a growing partisan gap between supporters of the BJP and the opposition
India National Congress party when it came to their views of Modi.
Of course, there are differences between
India, with its multitude of parties and parliamentary democracy, and the
two-party system in the United States. Still, Modi has worked to turn Indian
elections into presidential-style contests, urging voters to focus on him
rather than a party or representative in Parliament.
“Earlier it was about the parties, and this
is about Modi,” said Ritu Priya, a program manager for a German foundation in
Delhi who has fought repeatedly with her father about politics. “Sometimes you
think it would be nice if you could have a meaningful conversation. You cannot.
Everything will end up a disaster.”
The growing polarization was on full display
on a recent weekend afternoon at the Khanna household in Lucknow, the capital
of Uttar Pradesh, the country’s biggest state. Just before lunchtime, Seema,
53, and Sanjive, 57, sat in their living room and chatted with their daughter
and her husband. Talk veered to politics within seconds.
“You know that quote about not being able to
fool all the people, all the time? Modi has proved it wrong,” Sanjive said.
At least Modi is a strong leader, unlike his
predecessor from the opposition Congress party, who was “sitting with a
lollipop” doing nothing, Seema retorted. “Modi’s got spine.”
Sanjive says that under Modi, India’s
democracy has degenerated into dictatorship. Seema disagrees vehemently. When
Sanjive calls Modi a “con artist” and criticizes him for abandoning his wife,
Seema gets visibly upset.
“I don’t want to look at him right now,” she
said, turning away from Sanjive.
Their daughter Kareshma, who runs a
pharmaceutical start-up and describes herself as apolitical, finds her parents’
behavior mystifying. “I can’t understand how they can fight like cats and dogs
over politics,” she said.
In the new political environment, Indians
have developed strategies for dealing with friends, family members and
colleagues with differing views: Either stick with your own kind or avoid
talking about Modi altogether.
At a recent wedding, Sanjive described being
outnumbered by Modi supporters in the family. “I consciously chose to sit with
the few who shared my beliefs,” he said. “I didn’t want the occasion to turn
ugly.”
This shrinking space for harmony is evident
at dinner tables, too. In another leafy neighborhood of Lucknow, the Singh
family assembled on a recent evening at patriarch Chandra Bhal’s house.
A retired army officer, Singh has admired
only two Indian prime ministers in his lifetime — one is Modi and the other is
Indira Gandhi of the Congress Party, popularly dubbed the “Iron Lady” who
helped liberate Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1971.
Singh especially approved of Modi’s decision
to launch an airstrike on an alleged terrorist camp in Pakistan after an attack
in Indian-controlled Kashmir in February.
“To survive in this world, you need a
powerful leader. See, nobody messes with the United States or Russia,” said
Singh.
His daughter Niti Saxena, the women’s rights
activist, and granddaughter Shubhangi, 29, are outraged. They worry about the
risk of war and accuse Modi of politicizing the army by asking for votes on the
campaign trail in the name of the airstrikes. “It’s shocking. It is as if Modi
is the country!” Shubhangi said.
Voices rise, fingers are pointed, and people
start talking over each other. Then, in deference to Singh, Shubhangi and Niti
fall silent. Someone says, “Let’s serve dinner.”
Priya, the program manager who lives in
Delhi, said that the last time her parents came to visit a few months ago, her
father and her elder brother got into a heated argument over politics that
lasted several hours. Her father, a Modi enthusiast, told his children, both
Modi detractors, that he felt ashamed of them.
She said her father’s views became more
entrenched in recent years, ever since he retired and began consuming a steady
diet of pro-Modi television channels and reading partisan forwarded messages on
WhatsApp.
But Priya added that the bitterness cuts both
ways. “I’ve also become a bit intolerant,” she said. “I won’t say it’s only
them. If they say something wrong, I cannot tolerate it, either.”
Slater reported from Delhi.
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