- Monday, May 06, 2024
The Hindu nationalist party has said that Modi has not tried to polarise voters but only tried to expose the opposition’s alleged ‘Muslim-first’ strategy before the electorate.
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party have begun targeting opponents in the middle of the general elections, accusing them of showing preferential treatment to minority Muslims.
Analysts see the move as an attempt to energize their hardline supporters following the commencement of general elections last week. The elections in India kicked off on April 19, marking Modi’s quest for a rare third consecutive term. Campaigning so far had centered on the prime minister’s track record of economic growth, social welfare initiatives, and his personal charisma.
However, in a speech made on Sunday (21), the prime minister characterized Muslims as “infiltrators” with “more children”, connecting the statement to what he alleged was an electoral strategy of the main opposition Indian National Congress party to redistribute Hindu wealth among Muslims.
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The Congress refuted making any such pledge and urged the Election Commission of India to take action against Modi. Surveys indicate that the incumbent PM is likely to secure a comfortable majority, even though analysts feel that his party aims to avoid potential voter fatigue and overconfidence.
The contentious remarks mark a departure from Modi’s usual approach, as he seldom directly targets Muslims, according to Hilal Ahmed, a political analyst at Delhi-based Centre for the Study of Developing Societies. He noted that the remarks followed a fall in voter turnout in areas where the BJP performed well in the last national elections.
“The low turnout simply means that the committed BJP voter has not yet come out,” Ahmed said, according to Reuters. “They obviously want the committed voter to come out. That is the reason for this deviation.”
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On Monday (22), members of the BJP, including Modi’s home minister Amit Shah, the second-most powerful man in the BJP, backed and emphasized the notion of wealth redistribution to Muslims in a campaign speech. Modi reiterated the claim the next day, following a talk about the progress Muslims have experienced during his decade-long tenure.
In the southern state of Karnataka, where half of the constituencies are set to vote in the second phase of elections on Friday (26), BJP supporters have staged protests against the recent murder of a Hindu woman by a Muslim man.
They called the incident an instance of “love jihad”, a term employed by Hindu groups to allege that Muslim men engage in a campaign to entice Hindu women into converting to Islam through the promise of marriage.
Karnataka is the only state in south India where the BJP is a potential force.
Time and again, Modi government has been accused of targeting and discriminating against India’s estimated 200 million Muslims, who form the world’s third-largest Muslim population. The government, however, has denied all accusations, and Modi has said he works for the betterment of all.
“Stating facts and exposing the flawed strategy of the opposition is our job,” BJP president JP Nadda was quoted as saying by Reuters, after he was asked about the prime minister’s comments.
He also said the BJP remains committed to its slogan of betterment, underlining reforms pushed by the government to help Muslim women and the poor among the community.
Another senior BJP leader, who is also a member of the party’s central election panel, said on the condition of anonymity that Modi’s comments made on Sunday should not be seen as “polarising” and that he had only reminded voters about the “Muslim-first strategy” of the Congress and its allies.
Modi inaugurated a grand temple to Hindu god Lord Ram in Ayodhya in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, fulfilling a longstanding promise projected by the BJP as a symbol of Hindu rejuvenation.
In campaign speeches, Modi talks about the temple, but his focus has remained more on his government’s development and welfare record and national pride to counter the opposition focus on issues such as joblessness, price rise and rural distress.
“When the campaign started, the focus was entirely on development, welfare, reaching out to marginalised people and Hindutva came last,” analyst Ahmed told Reuters, referring to the Hindu nationalism espoused by the BJP.
“After the first phase, they realised they need to go back to their own voters … back to the basics.”
(With Reuters inputs)
