Ramayana: Historicizing Myth and Mythologizing History 63the public consciousness to a different level of thinking. The Rama Jan-
mabhoomi Yagna is one such idea."^56
Thus a remarkable political drama was being written, planned, and pro-
duced by major political forces; the Hindutva forces deliberately, the Con-
gress (I) desperately, and the rest of them expediently. The stage chosen
was understandably the Hindi-Urdu heartland—the states of UP, Bihar,
Madhya Pradesh (MP), Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh (HP), and Hary-
ana. This "heartland" has 42 percent of all parliamentary seats in the Lok
Sabha (Lower House) and 38 percent of the electorate. It is also said to be
"a region of common language, cultural parochialism, and high levels of
economic and social backwardness."^57 The Hindi-Urdu heartland has the
maximum Muslim concentration and the most number of parliamentary
constituencies, with over 20 percent actual Muslim electorate. Most of the
tribal people, who are about 8 percent of the Indian population compris-
ing some 300 communities, inhabit this middle belt from West Bengal to
Rajasthan. Most of the lower caste (or scheduled castes) population is also
concentrated in the Hindi-Urdu heartland.
The en bloc support of these minorities, which was readily available
for the Congress of the Nehru period by virtue of the fact that the party
was the only source of justice and protection in an otherwise hostile envi-
ronment, was not there for Indira Gandhi anymore. In the 1957 elections,
the Congress secured 49 percent of the seats and 42 percent of the votes
from the heartland, but in 1971 they got only 47 percent of the seats and
40 percent of the votes. In 1980, however, Indira Gandhi secured only 30
percent of the heartland seats and 31 percent of the votes. With the new
majority-wooing strategy, Indira Gandhi could taste success in the Delhi
Municipal Corporation and Metropolitan Council elections in February
1983, in Kashmir and in Punjab.^58 When Rajiv Gandhi trod the same com-
munal path more erratically than strategically, the Hindutva forces sought
to reassert themselves first by preventing the Congress from stealing their
platform, and second by dramatizing things in a more overt and aggres-
sive fashion.
When "Mr. Clean," as Rajiv was once hailed, had not only failed to
take India into the twenty-first century but let the people down so ter-
ribly, V P. Singh won the November 1989 general election. The BJP, with
86 seats in Parliament, played a crucial role in sustaining the new govern-
ment. When the undaunted Singh implemented the Mandal Commission
Report, antagonized the upper castes, and opposed the BJP's revivalist
program and activities, his government fell. Singh's scheming rival, Chan-
dra Shekhar, succeeded in November 1990, and the next general elections
were held in May 1991. Rajiv Gandhi was killed on May 20,1991, during
the election hustings, and a stopgap government took over, making it fea-
sible for the political drama to enter its climax with heightened actions in
the heartland.