As the Indian election moves to its fourth phase, many people and groups who care about human rights think things aren’t going as smoothly as before. They notice that campaign speeches have become meaner and less truthful.
Politicians often insult each other and lie to get votes, thinking the result matters more than how they get there. This has happened a lot in India in the last two elections. But this time, it feels like something has changed.
In 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) focused on “Acche Din” (Good Days), aiming to win support by promising better times and accusing the Congress of corruption. They also pledged to create two crore jobs annually. In 2019, after the Pulwama attack and the Balakot airstrike, national security became a key factor in BJP’s campaign.
However, this time, even the Ram Mandir issue hasn’t energized BJP supporters as much. Experts predict this election won’t be easy for BJP and Narendra Modi. To counter this, Modi and his party are intensifying their anti-Muslim talk. After the first round of voting, Modi shifted his strategy to target his political opponents as pro-Muslim, despite surveys showing jobs and inflation as voters’ main worries.
In his speeches, Modi called Muslims “infiltrators” and “those who have more children.” Hartosh Singh Bal, from The Caravan magazine, says this is the first time Modi has been so direct about Muslims. Usually, he hints at bigotry instead.
Ali Khan Mahmudabad, a professor at Ashoka University, says this change might be because the BJP is worried about low voter turnout. In the first two rounds, only 66 percent voted, while in 2019, it was 69 percent. BJP usually wins when more people vote.
Facing Rahul Gandhi’s call to lift the cap on job reservations, Modi cleverly said Congress wants to give reservations to Muslims by taking from Dalits and backward classes. He also scared Hindu women by saying Congress might take their gold and property.
Recently, there’s been a lot of attention on the Sikh community. A suggestion was made on May 3 for the Union Home Ministry to look into claims that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) got money from a banned group called Sikhs for Justice outside India. This suggestion came after a complaint from the World Hindu Federation of India (WHFI) on April 1. Some people think this complaint is trying to create problems between Hindus and Sikhs, like what happened in 2022, but that case got dismissed by a Delhi court.
The opposition, led by Congress, is trying to copy the BJP’s 2014 strategy against them. They’re also talking a lot about helping poor and disadvantaged people in India.
One big problem for the BJP is the electoral bond issue. In February 2024, six years after it was approved, the Supreme Court said it’s not allowed and canceled it. They made the government tell everyone who bought these bonds and gave them to which party. Looking at the data, it seems there were some secret bad things going on with these bonds.
Two months later, Modi said the bonds were supposed to stop illegal money in elections and make things clearer. But since the Supreme Court said it’s not okay because it made political money secret and let rich people donate a lot, it seems like Modi’s explanation isn’t true.
How certain things affect Modi’s image as a strong leader will decide which way the election goes. Ramachandra Guha, an important Indian scholar, thinks that Modi has become like a Hindu emperor now, even though he used to be like a monk.
People in India are getting less happy with Modi’s economic plans because they’re not working as well as he said they would. But even with that, can Modi’s strong image help the BJP win for a third time? Also, what problems might happen because of the way politicians are trying to make people scared to get votes?
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