B.R. Ambedkar’s description of North India as conservative, superstitious, educationally backward and ancient and southern part as progressive, rational, educationally forward and modern was deeply reflected in the two swearing in ceremonies, one of C. Joseph Vijay as chief minister of Tamil Nadu and Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Suvendu Adhikari as chief minister of West Bengal. Swearing in of BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma as Assam chief minister also falls in the same category as that of Adhikari. Ambedkar categorised North and South in such contrasting terms in his 1955-book Thoughts on Linguistic States.Inclusive Vijay and divisive AdhikariVijay’s party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) emerged as the single largest party in Tamil Nadu and during his election campaign he made it emphatically clear that BJP is his ideological enemy and DMK, the political opponent.Contrast this with BJP’s Adhikari, who, after defeating Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal’s Bhabanipur, claimed his victory came from Hindu votes alone, using highly toxic communal rhetoric.While Adhikari projected a divisive understanding of the mandate, after taking oath as the chief minister, Vijay categorically asserted that, “It is a fresh, new beginning; a new era of real, secular social justice starts now. You can trust Vijay 100%. I belong equally to Hindus, Muslims and Christians.” Of course, after being administered oath of office and being sworn in as the chief minister, Adhikari mentioned that “he was sokoler” the Bengali word denoting everyone’s. So, there is a mismatch between what he said after assuming office of Chief Minister of West Bengal and how he and his party, BJP, peddled a communally polarising campaign while appealing for victory which of course has been registered after removing 2.7 million voters. These electorates waited in vain for adjudication of their claim to get enlisted in the electoral roll after submitting enumeration forms and other relevant documents as required by the Election Commission of India headed by Gyanesh Kumar.On another issue it is worth noting the glaring differences between what BJP supporters did to the icons of our nation who hailed from West Bengal. Even before Adhikari took oath, BJP supporters displayed disgraceful conduct at a college in Kolkata and recorded their shameful action while applying saffron tilaks on the portraits of legendary personalities like Sister Nivedita, Mother Teresa, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Raja Ram Mohan Roy and others. And in contrast, Vijay has deliberately chosen, among others, the portraits of Periyar E.V. Ramasamy, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, and K. Kamaraj to represent his party’s core ideology, focusing on social justice, equality, and honest administration.Also read: Men Claiming to be ABVP Members Storm Bengal University, Tear Down Portraits of Tagore, VidyasagarSo, Vijay marking his assumption of office as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu by invoking secularism and social justice and embracing all of Tamil populace regardless of faith represents Ambedkar’s description of South, among others, as “progressive, rational, educationally forward and modern.” And BJP leader Adhikari’s sharply polarising appeal to the voters during election campaign was grossly manifested when he said, “I am offering puja, Mamata is doing Namaz.” It clearly captured Ambedkar’s description that BJP with firm roots in North India and its leaders represented the opposite of South which Ambedkar hailed as “progressive,” one of the attributes of which is inclusiveness.That is why The Indian Express in its editorial titled, “West Bengal Chief Minister’s First Task : Take Every One Along” observed, “In the days to come, the polarising rhetoric in the BJP’s campaign, especially around the spectre of the ghuspaithiya (infiltrator), which became a term of communal dog-whistle politics, will also need to be dialled down” and his claim that he is of “sokoler,” of everyone’s, would have to be reflected in walking the talk and speaking to all the citizens of Bengal.Contrast the aforementioned salutary advice to Adhikari to eschew his venomous communally divisive narrative and take along all Bengalis of which more than 20% are Muslims with the editorial of The Hindu on Vijay titled “No Detours : A TVK Government With Aligned Parties was the Only Viable Post- Poll Outcome”. It urges Vijay to take forward the accomplishments Tamil Nadu registered and set an example of progress for rest of India. It is well known that the Dravidian model followed in Tamil Nadu became the nucleus of development for the last five decades combining economic growth with inclusivity.Therefore, TH editorial very thoughtfully put, “It is now incumbent upon Vijay to build on the foundations laid by Dravidian governments, under whose stewardship Tamil Nadu has emerged as one of the front-runners of the Indian economy by prioritising industrial development and socioeconomic equity.”In it there is resonance of Ambedkar’s description of South as progressive, modern, rational and educationally advanced.Shyama Prasad Mukherjee hailed Uttar Pradesh as IndiaIt is well known that Syama Prasad Mukherjee founded Jana Sangh which later was transformed to BJP. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that BJP victory in West Bengal constituted a fulfilment of the vision of Mukherjee who is the ideologue of Hindutva forces. In this context, it is fascinating to invoke what Aswini Ray wrote about Mukherjee on The Wire. In his article, “Why Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal Remain Outside the BJP’s ‘Double Engine’ Model,” Ray wrote, “Well before the birth of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee had said something remarkable about the Hindi-speaking belt, which economists once labelled as BIMARU for its poor development indices, and where Prime Minister Modi’s electoral constituency now falls. India, that is Bharat.” He had said: “Uttar Pradesh, that is India, that is Bharat.”Also read: Unity is the Opposition’s Best Bet to Challenge the BJP. For This, Two States Could Hold the KeyUttar Pradesh, governed by the BJP, is part of North India and thus falls within Ambedkar’s description of the region as “conservative, superstitious and educationally backward.” West Bengal which heralded renaissance under the leadership of Raja Rammohan Ray and forged the tryst with destiny for rest of the country in taking India forward is now under the grip of BJP which is dividing Bengal on the basis of communal polarisation. Adhikari has openly claimed that he will abandon Muslims, who have long shared power and been co-sharers in every aspect of the state’s composite culture.This the meaning and significance of the two contrasting oath taking ceremonies of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Assam under BJP leader Sarma is also no different from the rest of North India where the BJP is in power.S.N. Sahu served as officer on special duty to President of India K.R. Narayanan.