Main opposition parties will continue having to bank on their shares of Muslim votes to pose a challenge to the Hindutva bastion. Without doubt, the Hindu-Muslim division has reached its height of hubris. The ruling party has given up on even pretense. Inclusivity and people-friendly aren't BJP's to flaunt. A large chunk of the electorate will be going to bed with empty hearts for the entirety of the last leg of the run-up. Like somebody from the West Bank told a western newspaper, “This Ramadan is a sad Ramadan”.

So far, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress have stuck to their own minimum required levels of communalism even as mainstream media stoked Hindu-Muslim to suit BJP’s interests. But the BJP largely avoided directly challenging the Muslim belief that Muslims still ruled "India that is Bharat", which is what is at the bottom of the whole gig since Independence when India chose to be "two-nation". As the polls get closer, the bitterness will crest with advantage BJP.

The normal amount of anti-Muslim rhetoric from the “Hindu nationalist party” was tolerable. Till when with one final stroke on February 11, the sluice gates were laid wide open. The pampered lot now haven’t a chance in hell to force a faceoff. The final lap of the run-up has been cleared of any remaining stumbling blocks. Opposition parties had been upping their ante when the Narendra Modi government was planning to strike with the Bharatiya Janata Party's "Divyastra".

So, what goes? Does the opposition INDI-Alliance have a chance against a communal agenda? What does Rahul Gandhi have up his sleeves to counter the BJP and knock sense into straying from their paths Hindu voters? Does the INDIA bloc have a campaign to match that of the BJP, i.e., as communally charged as that of the BJP? A large section of the public's opinion changed Monday, March 11, evening and party manifestos will reflect the changed outlook.

There's a belief going around, buoyed by loose talk, that India's development and rise will be held hostage by a sect of people who live perennially in the mediaeval age. The majority of India's youth are of a different bent of mind and these are also the ones who want India to rule the world. The BJP has been pandering to this mindset and the other side, which is presumably stuck in making cult compromises, cannot be trusted with India that is Bharat's developmental goals.

The BJP has so far unveiled the Ayodhya Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha, resurrected talk on Article 370, found the catch-phrase "Modi ka Parivar" on a platter and there has also been a mini-unveiling of the Uniform Civil Code. Now, sources in the BJP say, the UCC can wait till after Prime Minister Narendra Modi has scored “400 paar”, which is being touted as Narendra Modi's game-changer, the BJP's masterstroke.

There’s of course, Congress party's ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ but even before the last leg of recent assembly elections, the BJP had announced that “Hindu consolidation” was its panacea against Rahul Gandhi’s over-reliance on the Caste Census. Rahul Gandhi, to his credit, has been including the electorate in the planning and strategizing tasks of the Congress by way of his ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, keen on finding common ground with the aam-aadmi. It was only recently that the Bharatiya Janata Party sought to relate with the common citizen and this it did by making 'Modi ka Parivar' a unifying force-multiplier on the lines of 2019’s “Mai bhi Chowkidar”.

Has “Modi ka Parivar” helped the BJP connect with the electorate? The concept of "Mera Bharat, Mera parivar" has been consumed raw for years now, starting with “Chaiwala" in 2014. But the campaign for 2024 general elections has only now crystallized for the BJP, all its “communal arrows” fired and hoping for the best. Lalu Prasad Yadav's "Modi has no family" was met with a growing base of Hindu zealots clamouring to back Modi in his every endeavour. Now, after yet another "masterstroke" Majnu Ka Tilla in Delhi is celebrating and Pakistan is expecting an exodus of religiously persecuted Pakistani Hindus, Sikhs and Christians.

The BJP’s appeal to Hindu voters to come up with suggestions for its election manifesto is bound to reflect in the Modi government’s election-eve pro-Hindu stance. The Prime Minister has asked youth to share their thoughts and make no mistake the thoughts will come with Hindu orientation. Make no mistake, the BJP's Hindutva voters know their "Hindu-Hridya Samrat" too well to make a mistake. Modi’s direct contact with his core Hindutva electorate will increase from the day General Election 2024 is declared.

There are reports of voters who are connecting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi via an app-survey, with Modi asking them how they rated their MP/MLA after five years of suffering him/her. The 'NaMo' app-conducted 'Jan Man Survey' is on the job but a popular mood is simultaneously being shaped by fulfilling the promises the BJP made in its 2019 manifesto. Several recent 'Mood of the Nation' surveys show that the electorate’s mind has already been made up and the desired level of polarization has been achieved along with total trust on the delusional “Modi hai toh mumkin hai”.

Chances are high that over 40 percent of the Hindu electorate will vote for the BJP this time and even if every Muslim voter casts his/her vote for the Congress, it still wouldn’t be enough for the grand old party to recoup lost glory. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told all and sundry on the BJP's side not to worry about their daily needs, just ensure there's a BJP government till every requisite for a Hindu country is in place.

Of course, there are people who are convinced the Electoral Bonds Scam will finish off Modi's hold over the electorate“, but that cannot be said for sure. Not when Narendra Modi is selling a heady cocktail of Hindutva and the "Promised New World", of a developed India. Here's what he asked his flock on New Year's Day: "What do you think of the progress achieved by India in various sectors in the last 10 years? Share your feedback directly with me through the Jan Man Survey on the NaMo App!"

The prognosis for a tumultuous final lap of General Elections 2024 cannot be ruled out as the BJP has come to the conclusion that 2024 cannot be won on the NAMO app's power alone, the communal state of the voter's mind has also to be manipulated. From now till Election Day expect the most communally-charged election campaign in 75 years. The BJP has no option but to face unprecedented Muslim votes consolidation behind a secular political party. (IPA Service)