Question is, what was the compelling factor in Modi’s compulsion? Truth is, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did speak ill of Muslims and he did it loudly. He spoke the ‘M-word’ and he did it with impunity much to the thrill of the BJP’s Hindu vote-bank. At the time, Modi’s Hindu supporters couldn’t believe their ears. Finally, after 10 years of dillydallying, Modi was not hiding behind ‘Sabka saath, Sabka vikas’.

But then, after four phases of polling and right at the time of filing nomination for yet another contest from Varanasi, Modi was back to “appeasing Muslims”, much to the disgust of Modi’s blind Hindu followers. Modi’s captive vote-bank felt cheated, the déjà vu hitting them in the solar plexus. Modi continues to be the flip-flop, and unreliable.

What made Modi flip-flop this time? Did EAM S. Jaishankar tell him of the global impact of his anti-Muslim rants? Don't forget Modi wasn’t loath to push BJP firebrand Nupur Sharma under the bus to suck up to Qatar. Modi’s Gulf policy has no room for anti-Islamism.

If that is not the reason for the Modi flip-flop, could it be that Modi still harbours hope that islands of Muslim voters will vote BJP and every vote counted for “abkibaar 400 paar”, even those scavenged from Muslim ghettos. The BJP has to get 370 seats and the NDA 400-plus and Modi can’t risk losing his own bet. There are people waiting for Modi to come up short. Come what may, Narendra Modi has to make it to the Promised Land.

But if this, too, isn’t reason, then what? Why did the Prime Minister panic and invite a television anchor – a Muslim television personality with a track record of assured Modi devotion – to ask him questions that would give him chance to set the record straight on key issues concerning the Muslim? Could it be because the Muslim matter is now with the Election Commission and Modi faces action?

The ECI isn’t expected to choke Modi, but it is election season and the climate could change? So Prime Minister Narendra Modi did a somersault and his “lie” is caught on tape. Millions watched him on live TV denying doing 'Hindu-Muslim', the anchor too eager to give the Prime Minister not only a platform but also the question for the convenient answer.

The Election Commission of India isn’t going to punish Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Nobody in the three-member poll panel has the guts. Not even a rap on the wrist. What matters is, Prime Minister Modi backed off. Modi ate crow and it was filling for the Muslim. For the time being, at least, there wouldn’t be ‘Hindu-Muslim’ from the Prime Minister.

There must be other ways to consolidate Hindu votes – like, for example, promulgating the Uniform Civil Code or scrapping the Places of Worship Act. Maybe lifting the "untouchable clause" from the Waqf Board Act. Then again, perhaps, there is no more need for needling the Muslim; not if Modi believes BJP is first past the post.

With four phases of polling done and dusted with, there wasn’t the need to do ‘Hindu-Muslim’ anymore. The BJP had crossed the Rubicon. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that with the fourth phase, voting in 380 parliamentary constituencies was over and the BJP had "won" over 270 of the 380 seats, however contentious the claim.

Meaning, Modi didn’t need to “do Hindu-Muslim” anymore even if it made Modi’s Hindu vote-bank rue their luck for the nth time in more than two decades. Here was Mr. Dilly-Dally once again doing exactly what he was known for: flip-flopping like a fish out of water. Prime Minister Narendra Modi told another TV anchor that Rahul Gandhi will not win Raebareli because Raebarelians “now know there is an alternative to the Gandhi family.” The question is, “When will Modi’s Hindu vote-bank know there is an alternative to Narendra Modi?”

The story is, Modi has made sure there is no alternative to Modi. In the 10 years Modi has been ruling the roost, Modi made sure he was the only "Man" standing in the Bharatiya Janata Party. Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and JP Nadda are all figureheads and if Roads and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari was emerging as an alternative, he has been sidelined.

But this time, with a third term at stake, for the first time in a decade, Prime Minister Narendra Modi buckled and had to pick on Muslims to rouse up Hindu votes. It should be fact-checked if Modi lived in a Muslim neighbourhood when growing up; did a young Narendra Modi “walk under the Taaziya”, whether it is true Modi had “more Muslim friends” than Hindu pals and if on EID, Modi’s Muslim neighbours did all the cooking and the Modi family, all the eating?

These were claims made by Modi in his interview and it is one of those mysteries no media had ever got down to finding the truth about Modi in these small things in his life. Modi's “infiltrators” and “those with many children” remarks fell in the category of ‘Hindu-Muslim’, but what can one do if the Prime Minister straight out denies and says it is not in his upbringing to stoke communal passions and communal divisions. Not when he spent his childhood and boyhood in the laps of his Muslim neighbours. (IPA Service)