The High Court has given its verdict on the Hijab issue in Karnataka, but the discussions about it have not stopped. The question is arising whether this issue will also have an impact on the Karnataka assembly elections to be held in 2023. However, parties such as the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress believe that the hijab case will have little or no effect. The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday upheld the state government’s order regarding uniforms in educational institutions. Also said that wearing hijab is not a compulsory practice in Islam.
According to a News18 report, some local leaders believe that the dispute between hijab-clad girls and saffron-clad girls was part of the ongoing political battle between the BJP and the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI). SDPI is the political wing of the Popular Front of India. According to the news, a student leader from Udupi said, ‘The political battle between the Campus Front of India and the BJP has intensified in the last few years. At the same time, SDPI is also trying to incite sentiments and we can see this situation in the campus these days.
The special thing is that the issue of hijab not only brought CFI and SDPI together to ‘advise’ the 6 petitioners, but Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and BJP Yuva Morcha have also united. The student leader said, “Elections are fought on ideologies. It is getting stronger day by day. We know it will be part of the election. Young voters definitely want to talk about it.
If we look at the political influence, in the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections, BJP won all the 5 seats in Udupi district. At the same time, in Dakshina Kannada region, BJP won 7 out of 8 seats and Congress got only one seat. However, in the previous elections, Congress had won 3 seats in Udupi and 7 seats in Dakshina Kannada. Both parties believe that the hijab controversy will not become an election issue.
BJP’s target on the opposition
Yashpal Suvarna, national chief secretary of BJP’s BCM Morcha, believes that hijab will not become an election issue. At the same time, he accused Congress, SDPI and CFI of giving political air to this issue. The BJP leader said that Dakshina Kannada PFI and SDPI have no support base. “They are trying to use religion to raise funds. Those who are part of this hijab issue clearly do not want girls to be educated. They want to keep them like slaves. If she gets educated, she will question men, isn’t she?
Here, MLA UT Khader, who was a minister in the Congress government, has made it clear that his party will not give priority to the hijab issue. “The court has not banned the hijab. The opposition party is throwing a trap and these people are getting trapped in it. Now CFI says that BJP wants to polarize its vote bank.
what the experts say
According to political experts, the BJP can use it to show how they have dealt with the communal issue in a democratic way. Experts say that the impact of the hijab issue will be visible in the Karnataka elections. During this, he also mentions the results of Uttar Pradesh elections and Kashmir files.