As a student of Political Science I have been eagerly trying to educate myself on the politics here in Bagru. As it turns out, elections were held last week and it was quite the experience. While we don’t have Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump rising in the polls, coverage from the New York Times, or even formal debates, the election took over the focus of the entire town.
Elections are really a 3-week long event, if you include the campaign process. There are two main parties in Bagru: BJP and Congress. From my understanding, there is little contrast in terms of political differences: labor wages, economic ideologies, social issues, etc. They seem pretty similar across the board. BJP is, however, an older party and adheres more to Hindu philosophy.
My host family supports the BJP party, so I therefore became a de-facto member of BJP.
Notably, there is no freedom of choice for political affiliation. I had a discussion with a 20-year-old boy who said that while he preferred Congress, he had no choice but to vote BJP due to his father’s political alignment.
Bagru is divided into 25 districts or wards (sort-of like the Hunger Games). Every district elects one “community leader” – and then the 25 leaders elect a mayor. My district, district 17, ended up electing the independent candidate for community leader – this is very rare. Yet BJP won 15/25 seats in the Bagru parliament, and therefore a BJP member was elected as mayor. This pleased my host family.
3 weeks before the election the campaigning starts. This is an absolute scene to witness. “Campaigning” really means what we call in America as “canvassing.” Candidates walk door-to-door throughout the community, shaking hands, and addressing any concerns people have, ranging from education issues, running water, or trash in the streets. The candidates are joined by their local supporters that range from groups of 10-200 people. Lots of loud chanting while this occurs.
I took part in many of these campaign sessions, leading numerous BJP chants in front of 30-50 of people. In fact, people loved when I would campaign with them, because it created a “we got the white guy on our side” type of mentality. I started picking up on this and backed off a bit.
My observations lead me to believe that politics in Bagru create excuses. Campaigns are an excuse to take off work, to skip school, and to meet up with friends. Sadly, because many men in Bagru are uneducated, election-season offers a time for them to act important. I witnessed dozens of “secretive” meetings about political happenings, lists on lists on lists, and plans for how to win the election. While some of it was worthwhile, I think much of it was nonsense.
This sentiment was echoed with the physical campaigning. For three weeks there would be groups of children walking around Bagru chanting for BJP or Congress. These children were no more than 6-10 years old, and clearly had no idea what BJP or Congress even stands for. Again, it’s an excuse to have fun, to walk around and yell, and to wave colorful flags in the air.
Two days before the election there was a huge motorcycle rally for BJP. I was reading in my room one Sunday morning when I was told to hop on a motorcycle and join the rally. I didn’t know the other two guys on the motorcycle, but they gave me a BJP flag and we were off.
There were 500 motorcycles taking part in this BJP rally. We rode around Bagru for two hours, screaming BJP chants, honking our horns, taking pictures, and literally wreaking havoc. There was nothing “political” about this – it was simply an excuse for us to ride around on bilkes and have a great time. It is fascinating how politics are so meaningful here in Bagru, but the meaning is incredibly different to what American society would consider as significant.
With that said, I had an absolute blast. Who said politics can’t be fun?
