Bypoll Results: Backlash against Saffron in the land of the Tiranga

Apart from many political and economic reasons why the BJP lost in Kairana, Bhandara Gondia and elsewhere, cultural and spiritual factors almost certainly also played a part in the failure of saffron rhetoric to sway the electorate.

The BJP’s dismal tally of two defeats out of four parliamentary bypoll battles in various states tells its own story. It is a rude reminder to Yogi Adityanath as well as to Narendra Modi and Amit Shah that India is proud of its Tiranga and is a country whose people represent various other colours of the rainbow.

It is however in Uttar Pradesh especially where the attempt to paint everything saffron has backfired badly. The bhagwa obsession—and the misuse of bhagwa for pseudo-religious politics—has clearly hurt the BJP politically.

The very sight of a saffron-robed Chief Minister causes unease, as a sanyasi in Hindu tradition is a man who has renounced the pleasures and practices of earthly life. But here is a leader who violated basic religious tenets, forsaking his own renunciation by jumping into active politics.

Yogi Adityanath’s strident brand of pseudo-religious politics goes against the grain of what even the least devout among the majority community consider sacred or sacrosanct. For citizens belonging religious minorities, it evokes deep-seated unease and even fear.

During the 15 months he has been in office, Yogi has attempted to paint everything saffron, literally and metaphorically. It began with the furniture in his office and residence and reached provocative heights when he allegedly ordered the Haj House in Lucknow, used as a transit place by Haj pilgrims on their way to Mecca, to be painted saffron.

There are numerous other examples of Yogi’s colour fixation—all government hoardings, official year-books listing names, designations and contact numbers of ministers and senior bureaucrats; Press cards; 'Sankalp Sewa' buses all had the bhagwa tint. So much so that the cycle-rickshaws distributed to the poor in Varanasi were also all saffron. At a public function to distribute loan waiver certificates to famers, he not only insisted that the pandal should be in his favourite colour but even the certificates should have a saffron hue.

The official justification for this obsessive fad is that “bhagwa represents tyaag, balidaan aur shaurya”. The only sacrifice Yogi Adityanath has ended up making is of his own saintly image.

Now, as the election results of Kairana and Noorpur have shown— just as Gorakhpur and Phulpur did two months ago—there has been a backlash from voters and citizens who believe in other colours like green, red and blue too. The political misuse of saffron is hurting the eyes of the common man and hurting public sensibilities.