“If you want to attack, attack me and not Dalits. If you want to shoot, shoot me and not Dalits,” raged PM Narendra Modi at self- proclaimed cow vigilantes. Masterful performance or a reflection of serious concern? Modi’s is the dilemma of the clever politician increasingly held hostage by ideological foot soldiers of his own brotherhood. In every ideology, the pragmatic politician who hopes to win votes faces attack from ideologues who care only for ideological purity.
Naxalites roundly attacked the Communist Party for “selling out” to electoral democracy. Communist cadres were even killed in West Bengal by Naxals for diluting ideology by participating in politics. Similarly, sangh ideologues for whom Hindu rashtra is uppermost are increasingly at loggerheads with the Read More
