Even if one suggests that the saffron ecosystem and its media cell or his speech writers have become disoriented sensing a palpable defeat at the ballots, Modi could not disown his responsibility as the prime minister. As the topmost elected official of the country, he ought to have realised the implications his speech would have. For last few months, Modi has upped the ante in targeting former prime minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, accusing him of helping Muslims, insinuating malafide intent. Addressing a rally in Nasik, Maharashtra, he accused Dr Singh: “Dr Manmohan Singh had drawn up a plan to spend 15 per cent of the Union Budget.”

Earlier, Modi alleged the Congress manifesto pledges redistribution of wealth amongst Muslims. On April 9, he had compared the INC document to ‘Muslim League manifesto’. At a rally in Pilibhit, UP, he said: “The manifesto that Congress has made looks more like a manifesto of the Muslim League. My Hindu and Sikh brothers and sisters who are forced to flee due to persecution on foreign soil,… tell me – if India doesn’t grant citizenship to them, who else will?”

Again on April 21, Modi targeted the Congress manifesto at a rally in Rajasthan’s Banswada; “When they (the Congress) were in power, they said that Muslims had the first right to the properties of the state. This means that they would collect these properties and give them to the ones who have more kids (insinuating Muslims). They will give it to the ghusapethyon (infiltrators). Do you want to give away your hard-earned money to the intruders? This is what the Congress manifesto says — the amount of gold that mothers and daughters own will be measured, collected and distributed. They will distribute their wealth among those… Manmohan Singh ji had said Muslims had the first right to the properties.”

With the voting trend over the last four phases showing a severe decline in his support base, Modi has become even more aggressive. Now he is out to prove that Indians are really nincompoops. However, Indians know that the country has only one budget. There is no separate budget for Hindus or Muslims or Dalits or Sikhs or Parsis. Article 112 of the Constitution of India contemplates only one annual financial statement, which is the Union Budget. But Modi sees two budgets: one or Hindus and another for Muslims. It obviously implies that for Modi, India’s governance, its Constitution and its Parliament are irrelevant.

What matters for Modi is his occupying the office of the prime minister by hook or crook. Ever since he came to power, he has been distorting and destroying from within the democratic and administrative institutions. He has faced severe criticism for hollowing out the government institutions, but he has been unrepentant. He ought to realise that not only the Indian people, but the whole world is watching and analysing his actions and words, which certainly do not bring glory to India.

Modi said Congress had shown the “green flag” to distribution of money on the lines of religion and had even asked state governments to spend 15% of their budget only on members of a minority community. “Aap kalpana kar sakte hain ki Budget ka is prakar se tukde karna kitna khatarnak vichar hai. Aur aap jaante hai Congress ke liye minority sirf ek hi hai — unka apna priya vote bank (You can imagine how dangerous the thinking of dividing the budget this way is. For Congress, there is only one minority community — its dear vote bank),” Modi said.

Modi is known for his theatrics, but his art of distracting with his statements is enviable. This was clearly evident in the case of his earlier statement on people with more children. Through his body language and implications he made it clear that it was directed against the Muslims, but only a day back he directed this jibe towards the poor families. He said: “Where there is poverty, there are more children, irrespective of their social circle.” Does it mean that he’s accusing the poor of being factories for reproduction?

When Modi assumed power in 2014, the outgoing parliament had 30 Muslim lawmakers — and just one was a member of the BJP. Muslims now hold 25 out of 543 seats, and none belong to the BJP. There is no denying that Muslims have been largely marginalized to one where they are “actively excluded,” during his rule.

Modi government is also trying to create confusion about Muslim population. In the mid-1980s, Muslims accounted for 11% of India’s population. But the latest report of PM’s Economic Advisory Council claims that while the Hindu population has registered a decrease of 7.8% the Muslim population has increased by 43.1% in its population share over the 1951-2015 period. What is quite interesting the report has been released in the middle of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. While the Modi government has not so far published the 2011 census report, it has come out with the EAC report. This is the part of the larger design to polarise the Hindus on the hoary claim of Hindus being endangered, soon to be outnumbered. Muslims are largest minority group, making up 14.2 percent of the country’s population, according to the census of 2011. Hindus form 79.8 percent of the population.

In contrast a government report in 2006 found Muslims lagged Hindus, Christians and people from India’s lower castes in literacy, income and access to education. They have made some gains since then but are still at a significant disadvantage. On Friday, the INDIA bloc wrote to the Election Commission that it was allowing Modi to continue "unchecked and brazen" violations by not acting against him for his hate speech. It was nothing but "complete abdication" of the commission's duty, and the violations are being committed "with impunity and utter disregard,” the letter said.

Among the basic lessons that are taught at RSS shakhas where Modi’s formative years were spent, hating Muslims is at the very core. Moreover, after a lifetime of doing Hindu-Muslim, his latest pubic acts of feigning innocence is not going to fool even the hardest of his supporters/bhakts. Modi is staking the prestige of the office of prime minister through his lies only for the sake of getting re-elected, thereby doing the biggest disservice to the nation. Being unsure of getting re-elected through free and fair means, Modi has been endangering the very existence of India’s electoral democracy. For him, playing the game of Hindu-Muslim divide may be beneficial, but it is leaving a deep scar on the face of India which would take years to heal, if at all. (IPA Service)