In the guide- up to India’s public election, Narendra Modi was expected to shape it as a vote on his generation as prime minister.
But earlier in the gruelling six- year election, Mr Modi’s plan shifted wheels, using divisive speech that has raised concerns about his tactics. He’s been accusing the antagonism, led by the Congress party, of appeasing the Muslim minority group.
He warned girls at a different march that the opposition would seize their gold and give it back to Muslims. He accused the Congress of orchestrating a “vote jihad”, urging a “certain area” to unite against him. Yet Mr. Modi asserted that the Congress do” choose the Indian cricket team based on their religion.”
That’s not all. Mr. Modi claimed in a new interview that the “whole world” was attempting to influence the votes. This year, Mr Modi blamed the Congress for taking” boatloads” of funds from entrepreneurs Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani. Rahul Gandhi, the head of the Congress, has long attributed Mr. Modi’s close ties to the two richest men in the country.
You have addressed Adani and Ambani in public for the first time. Do you know that trucks give wealth, in your opinion? Mr Gandhi responded in a digital communication. The comments have n’t been responded to by any businesspeople.
India’s criticism has also accused Mr Modi of Islamophobia, calling his comment “divisive, love speech”. A possible code of conduct infraction has been the subject of a request from the Congress. Since the BJP’s rise to power, hate talk against India’s 200 million Muslims has increased. However, some people were expecting a focus on highlighting Mr. Modi’s accomplishments with his fiery speech on the tree.
According to Rahul Verma of the Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research ( CPR ),” to be honest, I thought Mr. Modi’s campaign would be much more about the rising India story and what they had done for the people.”
Some say Mr Modi’s notes are not exceptional. They point to many such occasions during his previous election activities, including what they call his “inflammatory language” after the protests in Gujarat in 2002 ahead of the country’s council elections. ” So, it has not surprised me, but is has shocked me. There is no subtlety in the language being used, according to Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Milan Vaishnav.
In the first round of voting, many claim that the BJP might have been spooked by a significant drop in turnout in a largely low-energy election. In the previous two elections, won decisively by the BJP, high turnouts benefitted the party- 2014 was largely a vote against the Congress, and 2019 was a vote for Mr Modi.
Second, the opposition has been trying to reshape the narrative of the 2024 election, shifting focus from being solely a referendum on Mr Modi to campaigning on issues like unemployment, social justice and economic inequality.
” The opposition is using this slogan to say if they come with such huge majority, the BJP will change the constitution. Given that pre-poll surveys reveal high levels of economic anxiety, Mr. Verma speculates that the opposition’s campaign to empower poor and lower castes might have gained some support. ” This might have prompted Mr. Modi to confront this narrative head-on and give it a Hindu-Muslim twist.”
Is Mr Modi’s divisive rhetoric a sign of desperation?
Not really, says Mr Vaishnav. It serves as a catalyst for his mobilization and, in my opinion, to compensate for his first few performances.
” Desperation suggests that the BJP is losing,” which I do n’t think is true. Without the BJP’s ability to keep its seats from 2019 and occupy new areas, it will be difficult to achieve the new 400-seat target.
In recent interviews with news outlets, Mr. Modi has sung a different song despite his rhetoric on the stump.
He said his government’s welfare benefits extended to all, irrespective of their community or religion, adding that” social justice and secularism is a guarantee from Modi”.
Mr. Modi criticized the opposition for using Muslims as political pawns, suggesting that the community should consider its own situation. Muslims should examine the community’s perception of shortcomings. He claimed that the Muslim world was changing without exception. When I go to the Gulf countries, India and I get so much respect. Here there’s opposition, “he said.
Finding the complexity of Indian election victories is always challenging. Gilles Verniers, a political scientist, believes they are rarely fought and won based on past accomplishments.
Instead, voters make their decisions based on what candidates and parties have to offer for the future. After building its past campaigns on welfare, security and nationalism, and having scored on these matters, the BJP does not have a lot of new ideas to offer to voters, hence the exacerbation of ethnic and religious nationalism, “he says.
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