In December last year, Hindus rioted in Bulandshahar in western Uttar Pradesh state, after discovering the dismembered bodies of a cow and a calf. Four Muslim men were arrested but were later found innocent. There were allegations – not unfounded – that the riots were orchestrated by Hindu fundamentalists to create disharmony ahead of the general elections in April or May 2019. The clarion call for the general elections – when the beleaguered Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by prime minister Narendra Modi will be seeking a second term in office – has sounded.
In the run-up to the 2014 elections – when Modi secured a landslide win – the narrative majored on development, anti-corruption and the creation of jobs. Four years on, it has come to rest on temples, cows and Islamophobic fear-mongering.
