Outside Mewat, however, ‘Batoge Toh Katoge’ was in play. Yes, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's slogan, which won Haryana for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Prime Minister’s role in the Haryana elections was limited to a couple of rallies and, perhaps, in the selection of candidates. Cabinet minister Dharmendra Pradhan was the go-to man.

That said, even if ‘Modi Brand’ and ‘Modi Magic’ did play a hand, the fact remains that BJP won because of Hindu consolidation after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath campaigned in Haryana more times than Prime Minister Narendra Modi and spread the word that 'Batoge Toh Katoge, Ek Hoge Toh Nek Rahoge', "look at what is happening to Hindus in Bangladesh?"

The Yogi spoke of “BatogeTohKatoge” at every pitstop in Haryana. He unveiled "Batoge Toh Katoge" in August of this year. In September, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took notice and came up with his version of ‘Batoge Toh Katoge’, asking Hindus to unite and not give enemies "reason to celebrate." If Hindu consolidation was happening in Haryana, why couldn't it happen in Maharashtra and Jharkhand?

Modi was followed by RSS ‘Sarsanghchalak’ Mohan Bhagwat who took the message deep into Hindu consciousness with “We are a Hindu Rashtra”, the headiest aphrodisiac available in the India of today, one which can lift a billion people out of 1000 years of subjugation, even if it is just a pipedream.

Hindu polarization is poison for the Muslim goose which lays the golden egg for the Congress. But Haryana was for everybody's sake, won on the back of Hindu consolidation. The Hindus of Jammu also voted overwhelmingly to give the BJP its biggest mandate ever in Hindu-dominated Jammu. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had addressed several rallies in the Jammu region of J&K. There, too, he spoke of 'Batoge Toh Katoge'.

But, when the time came, BJP top-brass coolly set aside Yogi Adityanath’s contribution to the BJP victory in Haryana, with BJP president Jagat Prakash Nadda thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Prime Minister Modi alone, for the “shandaar Haryana jeet” — “Modi hai toh mumkin hai”, he said.

In the din, when the confetti fell, Yogi Adityanath's 'Batoge Toh Katoge' was pushed aside to make way for Modi's 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas.' And 'Modi Brand' and 'Modi Magic' were weaved into the narrative. Modi can't wait for his political rehabilitation after the disastrous June 4 verdict. The Opposition's pet slogan "Modi is in decline" had to be blunted — Prime Minister Narendra Modi's image of a go-getter election-winning juggernaut had to be restored to its former glory with an election victory.

Fact is, Modi needs a makeover and everything and everybody else can wait. So, the rebirth of ‘Brand Modi’ and ‘Modi Magic’. Talk percolated that Modi was both strategist and course-corrector. He was ‘Commander-in-Chief’ and entitled to automatically take the credit for the Haryana victory. BJP spokespersons took this message to extreme lengths. One of them even wrote an eulogy in an Adani-owned television network's website.

The amount of sugary interventions made for Modi's re-establishment was unbelievable. In the meantime, give the election-winning slogan 'Batoge Toh Katoge' a quiet burial. The story spun throughout the afternoon and evening of October 8 was that Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his own plotted the third-time victory with a finesse that comes only with experience.

Along with Modi, “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas” also took centre-stage. Deep down, the consummate politician, that he is, Modi must know that but for Yogi Adityanath and “Batoge Toh Katoge”, Haryana couldn’t have been won. Events and happenings in the subcontinent also spoke of Hindu-Muslim polarization of the worst kind.

Top of the list is Bangladesh, where the Hindu minority is facing near-death experiences. Bangladesh is a warning Yogi Adityanath spelled out. Naturally, Hindus of India are perturbed. There is an automatic consolidation taking place in their minds. In Haryana, it happened in a big way though image-conscious Narendra Modi will deny that any Hindu-Muslim polarization fetched him Haryana.

Modi’s days as Chief Minister of Gujarat and the communal issues that were laid at his door haunt him. The world had veered away from him and it was like he was “exiled to his own country!” Prime Minister Narendra Modi abhors being Prime Minister of Hindus alone. “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas” is etched deep in his consciousness.

Narendra Modi wants to be remembered as a secular Prime Minister. The two former prime ministers he probably secretly admires must be Jawaharlal Nehru and his immediate predecessor Manmohan Singh, both of whom had deep empathy for the Muslim minority. Prime Minister Narendra Modi should know that Haryana is the only state where everybody, Hindu or Muslim, greet each other with a 'Ram-Ram', and this little thing escaped Rahul Gandhi. Last, Haryana was not won by Modi's developmental works, it was won by the fear of 'Batoge Toh Katoge'. (IPA Service)