Modi increases anti-Muslim rhetoric in India election campaign

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has increased divisive rhetoric on the election campaign, deploying some of the most extreme language of his decade in power to attack opponents and mobilise Hindu voters as his party seeks a historic third term.

In a series of rallies since India’s general election began on April 19, Modi has referred to the country’s Muslim minority as “infiltrators”, likened his Bharatiya Janata party’s arch-rival Indian National Congress to the historic pro-Pakistan Muslim League and accused Congress of seeking to “loot” wealth from Hindus and redistribute it to Muslims.

“Congress wants to take part of the rights of [lower-caste Hindus] and give it to their vote bank,” Modi told a campaign rally in Goa on Saturday. “And you know who Congress’s favourite vote bank is,” he added — a thinly veiled reference to Muslims.

The same day, Anurag Thakur, the BJP information minister, told another rally that Congress “wants to give your children’s property to Muslims”.

Modi’s escalation of his inflammatory rhetoric comes as the BJP is looking to drum up support among Hindus — who makes up about 80 per cent of the population — to win a supermajority and cement its dominance of national politics.

The BJP has set a target of 370 of the 543 parliamentary seats on offer, up from the 303 it won in 2019. Results will be released on June 4 after six weeks of staggered voting.

But analysts, who see the Hindu nationalist BJP as favourites, said this goal would be challenging, pointing to evidence of a drop in turnout during the first two rounds of voting and signs of anti-incumbency sentiment in parts of the ruling party’s northern heartland.

“I don’t think I have seen a prime minister speak such inflammatory rhetoric,” said Asim Ali, an independent political analyst, adding that Modi was trying to “energise the Hindutva [Hindu nationalist] base”.

“Because the prime minister is saying this now, local level BJP operatives are free to take it up.” 

The divisive turn has outraged Modi’s critics, who have filed complaints to India’s election commission over alleged violations of its code of conduct. The body last week sent a notice to the BJP but did not name Modi and has not taken action.

At a combative rally of thousands of supporters on Thursday in Agra — home to the Taj Mahal monument built by a Muslim Mughal emperor — Modi accused Congress, which ruled for decades after independence in 1947, of pandering to religious minorities.

“The politics of appeasement has divided the country into pieces,” Modi said, alleging that opposition parties were trying to “steal” from Hindus. Muslims make up about 14 per cent of India’s population.

Congress denies these claims, and in turn accuses the business-friendly BJP of channelling government funds to billionaires while neglecting unemployment and inequality. It has vowed to conduct a census of caste groups, which it says will help allocate resources to marginalised groups.

Rahul Gandhi, a Congress leader and Modi’s highest-profile rival, gibed on Friday that Modi appeared “very nervous”.

“Narendra Modi has snatched money from the poor . . . [and] given it to the billionaires,” Gandhi said. “We will give that money to the poor people of India.”

India has strict rules prohibiting the publication of exit polls during the election, so there is no verified information about where each party stands.

But analysts have cast doubt on whether the BJP — which swept much of India in 2019 — can improve significantly on its seat count.

Reaching 370 seats seems “a bit of a puzzle, as to where the extra seats are going to come from”, said Ronojoy Sen, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore, adding that the target might have been intended to animate party cadres.

In Agra, Hindu and Muslim voters alike were weary of the inflammatory tenor of the campaign. Rizwan Ahmed, 18, said there was “no such problem” between faiths, but “politicians just say things and then people twist the statements”.

“This kind of polarisation and communal rhetoric, of course it’ll appeal to your core voters,” Sen said. “But I’m not sure how well it works in expanding the core.”