Sanatan Dharma 2024 elections: In a strong political statement, Assam’s Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma recently accused the opposition of being against ‘Sanatan Dharma’ (an ancient and enduring tradition in Hinduism) and emphasized that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections would revolve around the struggle for preserving civilization. Sarma’s comments came in the backdrop of the formation of a new opposition alliance named ‘INDIA’. He claimed that the core aim of this alliance is to undermine India’s cultural and civilizational heritage.
Further amplifying this narrative, the Chief Minister suggested that the forthcoming election would see the Indian population rally in support of ‘Sanatan’ and its values. This perspective builds on the recent controversies stoked by DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin’s remarks against ‘Sanatan’, which he described as divisive.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has taken strong exception to such remarks. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while campaigning in the poll-bound state of Chhattisgarh, took the opportunity to criticize the INDIA alliance, accusing it of intending to obliterate Sanatan Dharma and erase India’s millennia-old cultural legacy.
During his rally in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district, PM Modi urged the people to stay alert against such adversaries, painting them as enemies of India’s cultural identity. He suggested that the opposition, sidelined from power at the Centre for the last nine years, is targeting the cultural and spiritual identity of the Indian populace out of resentment.
Highlighting the inclusiveness of the Sanatan culture, the Prime Minister evoked the age-old story of Lord Ram, who revered the tribal woman Shabari as his mother and partook in the berries she offered.
These recent developments underscore the growing political polarization in India, with cultural and civilizational values becoming central themes in electoral narratives.
