Can we use religion to woo voters? Now the matter is in SC’s court
The India’s most controversial subject is now under the consideration of the Supreme Court. Can we use religion to attract voters? We may think the answer will be a huge ‘no’. But, the fact is that several courts had earlier supported the candidates, who allegedly used the religion, by quashing cases registered against them for using the religious identity. Now, the top court headed by TS Thakur is trying to wipe out the fog around the issue. Earlier, some courts had even delivered conflicting judgments over the issue. The issue initially came into notice on 1995 when a court ruled that a reference to Hindutva was not a corrupt practice. Due to our slow court procedure, this controversial issue took over twenty years to reach the top court for a final judgment.
In this rough journey, it landed in several courts gaining controversial and conflicting judgments. The time is the most irritating as well as a tactical factor here. On the one hand, we are all angry that it took this much time to resolve an important issue. On the other hand, several political observers observe that it is the right time to resolve this issue as the country is approaching the much awaited UP election, in which the cast and religion often play a huge role. It is learned that the SC is not likely to seek the central government’s view on this matter.
Vignesh
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