“Governments come and governments go. Parties appear and disappear. But this country should remain and its democracy should remain eternally”

These were the words of former Indian Prime minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee after his government lost vote of confidence in 1996. Vajpayee was leader of opposition of a long time as well and he was praised by then PM Jawaharlal Nehru as well. Such used to be the spirit among Indian leaders at some point of time.

But today’s time are very contrasting to those earlier days. Indian politics touched a record low when Indian National Congress, its allies and its supporters started abusing voters of entire state just because they lost elections in those states. As soon as Congress lost elections in Hindi speaking states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh its supporters started saying that people in these states are illiterate, communal, bimaru, regressive and what not. Yes, the same states which had your party’s government a few hours back.

At start only social media handles were involved in shaming the states and its voters but soon big leaders and renowned journalists also stepped in to shame voters. Things got worse when a DMK MP DNV Senthilkumar (DMK biggest alliance partner of Congress) took “Gaumutra (cow urine) states” jibe on Hindi heartland inside the Parliament. Important to mention is that cow is sacred animal for Hindus across the country.

Some people went one step further and started creating North-south divide on the basis of voting pattern. This was fueled by the fact that Congress was able to win South Indian state of Telangana while BJP was distant number 3 in the state. People started claiming that people in South rejected BJP, the party which won assembly elections in North. Tamil Nadu Congress MP Karthi P. Chidambaram was one of them.

Some forces are so hell bent on dividing India that they started to prove that Hindi speaking North India is inferior to South. They claimed that people in Hindi belt vote for BJP because they are illiterate, communal, casteist, produce more kids and have less income compared to South India.

Let us check how correct these claims are. Bihar is the state with least literacy rate in India but never had a BJP CM. Telangana which all of a sudden became model of secularism is continuously electing AIMIM MLAs every election. Haryana pays one of the highest GST per capita in the country and it is both BJP ruled and part of Hindi belt. Congress Telangana CM candidate Revanth Reddy openly spread hatred against Kurmi caste and the people of Bihar by terming them as inferior.

From foreign powers to traitors within us everyone is jealous of a rising India. So they want to create some tensions at any cost. Some of them are trying to choose North-South divide. They are trying to create imaginary differences when there are none. Culturally both the regions are superbly bounded by Hinduism. There are lot of examples both historic and contemporary to prove that India is a single entity. There are many ancient Sanskrit Shlokas saying that extent of India (or the Bharatvarsh) is from Himalayas in the North to the oceans in the South.

In present day cricket proves that geographical differences in India are worthless. Cinema also proves the same. Cricketer MS Dhoni is an Uttrakhandi, born and brought up in Jharkhand but darling of the masses in Tamil Nadu. Same with Virat Kohli, who is a Punjabi from Delhi but represents a team from Karnataka. There are many more such examples. Actors from film industries of Chennai and Hyderabad ain’t just popular in their home states but also everywhere from Punjab to Bihar. A Telugu film from 2018 Naa Peru Surya starring Allu Arjun had a dialogue “North India, South India, East, West… we don’t have so many Indias dude, only one India”

All these things prove that no matter how many attempts politicians make to divide us Indians will remain one by heart, culture and the dream of a better tomorrow also unites us. Now coming back to politics, is it correct when people say that voters from South India don’t vote for BJP? No. Not at all, in fact BJP has the highest number of MPs in South Indian states for any party.

What these trolls and their bosses mean with South India is also interesting at some times. With South India, rather than geographic South they refer to states speaking Dravidian languages. Otherwise, how Goa cannot be a part of South India when Telangana can be. Probably because that will burst their bubble of “BJP free South.” Goa also happens to be the state with highest per capita income and a BJP government.

Some questions are needed to be asked to the politically powerful people. Congress need to answer how far will they go to appease their alliance partner DMK. Earlier they abused Sanatana Dharma, compared it to dengue and malaria and also expressed their will to eradicate it. Now they are openly playing narrow minded regionalism card.

BJP claims to fight for Hindutva and nationalism but why none of its MPs objected when gamutra jibes were being taken on certain states of India inside the temple of democracy. That was an attempt to insult both Hinduism and nationalism. All the MPs from these states must be asked this question. Regional parties from UP/Bihar should also clear their stand on what they think about their anti-North partners from the recent INDI alliance.

Disrespecting people’s mandate and creating imaginary lines of tension between two regions won’t be fruitful for anyone. Congress needs to understand that it will alienate them completely in North India as because of social media youth has got very aware. It may give them a few seats edge in South but in long run regionalism will give birth to new regional parties hurting the grand old national party.

BJP also needs to maintain its calm and not get into the divisive politics played by the opposition. It is a party which has everything to gain in states like Kerala, Andhra and TN. So, any wrong statement at this point of time can make things worse for them.

People from both North and South India should also understand that they are one people. It’s a political party and its alliance that is trying to divide the country and not the common people. Indians, especially those from North may get provoked due to some contents on social media. But remember that’s what anti India forces want, infighting among Indians. So, be calm and remember no one can break our unity. We have lived together for decades and we will continue doing so.