Modi’s BJP wants the votes of India’s ‘Pasmanda’ Muslims. Will they bite?

Ahead of the national election, the party has tried to make inroads among the largest section of India’s 200 million Muslims. Will the strategy work?

Patna and Naihati, India – Earlier this month, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of the country’s Muslims in a televised interview, denying that he had made hate speeches against the minority community in his campaign rallies.

In several rallies Modi addressed as India holds its mammoth general election, he referred to Muslims as “infiltrators” and “those with many children” – familiar dog whistles that his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its far-right allies have been using against the country’s largest minority for decades.

But in the interview, Modi said he was “shocked” by the criticism of his speeches – which had even prompted a warning from the Election Commission of India to the BJP president.

“Who told you that whenever one talks of people with more children, the inference is they are Muslims? Why are you so unjust towards the Muslims?” Modi instead asked the television reporter, herself a Muslim.

“This is the situation in poor families too. Where there is poverty, there are more children, irrespective of their social circle. I didn’t mention either Hindu or Muslim. I have said that one should have as many children as you can take care of. Don’t let a situation arise where the government has to take care of your children.”

Modi is not known to backtrack on his comments but his emphasis on “poor families” and the suggestion that others were “unjust” to Muslims underscores an often ignored facet of the BJP’s political campaign. Even as its politics is driven by a Hindu majoritarian ideology, it has tried to make inroads with the largest section of India’s