UP Elections: Stirring The Communal Cauldron

Change, development, jobs, efficiency, and an end to corruption, discrimination - it was these top promises as demonstrated by his popular slogan Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas, that swayed the elections in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014. But two-and-half-years later, a different discourse is being heard in the Hindi heartland of Uttar Pradesh - instead of jobs, Make in India, Beti Padhao, the high-decibel campaign is now focussing on competitive communalism - allocation of money for "kabarastan and shamshan" (crematoria and burial grounds), from netas insinuating that laptops have been distributed on the basis of religion to parties boasting of fielding a sizeable number of Muslim candidates. On The Big Fight, BJP Spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao accused the opposition parties of minority appeasement and even handing out government largesse based on religion and caste. Is there a substance in BJP's allegations or is the party trying to polarise the voters to win the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh?