On April 24 in Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “They ask me why 400 paar? I reply – because of your stratagems in the states. Daliton ke, Advisaiyon ke, OBCs ke aarakshan chori karne ka jo khel khel rahe ho. Use lootne ka khel khel rahe ho. Aapke ye khel band karne ke liye, hamesha ke liye band karne ke liye, aapke mansoobon ko hamesha hamesha taala lagaane ke liye Modi ko 400 paar chahiye (You are playing games to steal the reservation of Dalits, tribals and OBCs. You are trying to loot them. To stop this game of yours for ever, and to put a lock on your intentions, Modi wants 400 paar).
A scrutiny of about 60 speeches by the Prime Minister from March 16 to April 25 shows that this latest framing of “400 paar,” after the first phase of elections, marks a shift from the earlier refrain. It also comes after Opposition allegations that 400 plus will be weaponised to change the Constitution.
Earlier, the BJP’s 400 plus was more a triumphalist assertion – that people were so satisfied with the performance of the government at the Centre that they wanted the NDA to get many more seats. In fact, an illustrative example came during his speech in Amroha on April 19 that captured this sentiment. Modi said that people were asking how he would cross 400, as the BJP had saturated many states with sweeps in 2019.
“I tell them about UP, from where I am an MP. For seven years, Yogi ji’s government has been here. In seven years, he has shown what is governance and what is law and order. So, I say that under Yogi ji in UP, the record of 2014 and 2019 will be broken, and UP will give a record mandate.”
Since the first phase ended on April 19, the first mention of “400 paar” came about a dozen rallies later on April 24 in the Sagar rally – with the new framing. That 400 plus were needed as a shield for SCs, STs and OBCs, to protect marginal groups from their reservation benefits being handed over to Muslims.
Incidentally, sections of Muslims have figured in Central and state OBC lists in many states.
Significantly, it was three days after the Prime Minister’s Banswara speech — where he mentioned Muslims and said that if Congress came to power, resources would be diverted to “those who have more children” and “infiltrators” – that the NCBC on April 24 criticised Karnataka for listing all castes of Muslims as OBCs. It said this deprived the backward castes of their rights.
The Karnataka government responded by saying that the 4-percent quota for Muslims in the state had been there since 1994, and was scrapped by the Basavraj Bommai government. The BJP, however, calls this reservation on religious grounds which, it says, violates the Constitution.
This framing of “400 paar” comes in the wake of the Congress manifesto controversy over “X-ray” and “institutional survey” which the BJP has seized on to argue that this is a proxy for re-distribution and diversion of wealth and quota benefits.
This is a marked departure from the earlier framing.
Consider these examples:
On April 17, the PM said in Nalbari: “4 June kya hone waala hai ye aaj poora desh dekh raha hai. Aur isliye log kehte hain 4 June 400 paar; 4 June 400 paar; 4 June 400 paar (The whole country knows what is going to happen on June 4. So, people are saying 4 June 400 paar).”
On April 16 in Gaya, Modi said “4 June 400 paar” three times in a row, adding, “They ask why 400 paar. Let me tell you why. Desh ki janata ne tay kiya hai 400 paar. Kyonki desh ki janata 2047 mein Hindustan ko viksit dekhna chahti hai. .. At the same time by giving 400-plus to the NDA, they want the corrupt and those playing with the constitution punished. This election is about NDA’s victory and also about punishment to be meted out to those who want to destroy the country – hence, 400 paar.”
On March 19, three days after the elections were notified, the Prime Minister addressed a public meeting at Salem in Tamil Nadu, where he said “Abki bar, 400 paar” 17 times, each one tagged along with a governance goal.
“Ab Tamil Nadu ye decide kar chuka hai, abki baar… 400 paar! abki baar… 400 paar! Developed Bhaarat ke liye, 400 paar! Developed Bharat ke liye, 400 paar! Developed Tamil Nadu ke liye, 400 paar! Developed Tamil Nadu ke liye, 400 paar! Modern Infrastructure ke liye, 400 paar! Modern Infrastructure ke liye, 400 paar! Third largest economy ke liye, 400 paar! Third largest economy ke liye, 400 paar! aatmanirbhar Bharat ke liye, 400 paar! aatmanirbhar Bharat ke liye- 400 paar! Farmer Welfare ke liye, 400 paar! Farmer Welfare ke liye 400 paar! Fishermen ki suraksha-samrddhi ke liye 400 paar! Fishermen ki suraksha-samrddhi ke liye, 400 paar! abki baar…400 paar (Tamil Nadu has decided — This time, 400-plus. For developed Bharat, for developed Tamil Nadu, for modern infrastructure, for third largest economy, for self-reliant India, for farmers’ welfare and fishermen’s security and prosperity, this time 400-plus).”
