I won't work for them: The dangerous normalisation of communal politics

Key points

• The most revealing political statement post elections this month has not come from a television studio talking head or a noisy social media troll.
• It has come from a newly elected BJP MLA in West Bengal, Ritesh Tiwari, who told an audience: “They didn’t vote for me, I won’t work for them,” referring to Muslim voters.
• Pause for a moment and reflect on the enormity of that statement.
• An elected representative in a constitutional democracy was effectively suggesting that governance and citizenship rights should now depend on religious voting patterns.
• In other words, if Muslims did not vote for him, they are somehow less entitled to his representation.