Modi called out by opposition after he denies stoking Hindu-Muslim tension: ‘Pathological liar’

Narendra Modi has denied deliberately stoking the religious divide in India in order to win the ongoing general election, days after facing backlash for comments that appeared to target its Muslim minority.

"I believe people of my country will vote for me," the Indian prime minister told broadcaster CNN-News18 in the holy city of Varanasi, as he filed his nomination papers from his parliamentary constituency in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

"The day I start talking about Hindu-Muslim (in politics) will be the day I lose my ability to lead a public life," he said, speaking in Hindi, weeks after he seemingly referred to Muslims as “infiltrators” and “those with more children”, dog-whistle phrases that Hindu nationalists commonly employ against the country’s Muslims.

"I will not do Hindu-Muslim. That is my resolve,” he told the broadcaster. Mr Modi, who is seeking a rare third term as prime minister, was immediately fact-checked as his political opponents reminded him of his remarks from three weeks ago.

“Earlier, when they were in power, they had said Muslims have the first right to the wealth of the nation,” Mr Modi said, referring to Congress. “This means they will distribute this wealth to those who have more children, to infiltrators. Should your hard-earned money be given to infiltrators? Do you approve of this?” he asked the crowd who had come to listen to him.

The general secretary of the opposition Congress party Priyanka Gandhi, daughter of assassinated former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, launched a scathing attack over Mr Modi’s volte-face. She asked the prime minister to clarify that he did not mean to demean Muslims while speaking about “infiltrators”.

“The truth of this country is that the politics that dominate this country is the politics of lies. Their (BJP) leaders tell lies, they are cowards. They make contradictory statements. In every rally, they do Hindu-Muslim. And now, the prime minister of India sitting in Varanasi denies doing Hindu-Muslim,” she said.

“For the past 10 years, he has been playing the Hindu-Muslim card. Wherever he conducts his rally, he does Hindu-Muslim. It is time to be vigilant. Every Hindu and Muslim should be vigilant. You are being misled. Votes are being sought in the name of God but work is not being done in the name of God.”

Mr Modi has claimed he did not specifically refer to Muslims in his speech, but rather “poor families”. “I am shocked. Who told you that whenever one talks of people with more children, the inference is they are Muslims? Why are you so unjust towards Muslims? 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,” he remarked.

“I do not work for a vote bank. I believe in, ‘Together with all, development for all’,” Mr Modi said.

Mr Modi did mention Muslims in his speech, however. Addressing an election campaign rally in Banswara in the western state of Rajasthan in late April, he told his supporters: “Earlier, when they were in power, they [the Congress party] had said Muslims have the first right to the wealth of the nation. This means they will distribute this wealth to those who have more children, to infiltrators. Should your hard-earned money be given to infiltrators? Do you approve of this?”

Ms Gandhi challenged Mr Modi to fight the 2024 general elections issues of unemployment and inflation, instead of creating a religious divide.

"They don’t have any policies to remove your hunger. Modi travels in big planes, but when he meets you, he goes back making the same statements. I challenge him to fight elections on unemployment and inflation and his policies.

Calling Mr Modi a “pathological liar”, Jairam Ramesh, another senior member of the Congress party, said the prime minister has “no agenda except for Hindu-Muslim” politics.

“The nation knows very well that the outgoing PM is a pathological liar,” Mr Ramesh wrote on X. “But even by his own pathetic standards, Mr Modi’s latest claim that he does not do Hindu-Muslim politics shows the new depths he reaches daily in lying. Since 19 April 2024, it is a matter of public record that cannot be erased from our collective memory – even if Mr Modi erases it from his own – that the outgoing PM has blatantly and brazenly used communal language, symbols, and allusions.”

Mr Modi, who kicked off the election campaign in April showcasing economic achievement and promising to make India a developed nation by 2047, changed tack after the first phase of voting and focused more on firing up his Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Hindu base by attacking rivals as pro-Muslim.

While Hindus make up about 80 per cent of India’s 1.4 billion people, it also has the world’s third-largest Muslim population of about 200 million.

Analysts say Mr Modi made the controversial remarks to invigorate his party’s hardline base as the election saw comparatively low voter turnout from previous years, stirring anxiety around incumbency and voter disenchantment. They say the BJP is also ratcheting up polarising speeches to distract voters from larger issues such as unemployment and economic distress.

In speeches in recent weeks, Mr Modi said women’s wealth could be at risk if Congress comes to power, claiming the party would snatch away their “mangalsutra” – a sacred gold chain indicating women’s marital status – and give it to its support base, another apparent reference to Muslims.

The opposition won’t stop there, he repeatedly claimed, saying the party was conspiring to take away “your property” and “distribute it among selected people”, in what political commentators see as another apparent reference to Muslims.

In another speech this month, Mr Modi asked voters to decide if “vote jihad will work or Ram Rajya”, referring to the kind of rule seen under the revered Hindu deity, Lord Ram.

"India is at a turning point in history; you have to decide if ‘vote jihad’ will work or Ram Rajya," he said during a campaign in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh as he claimed that the interests of Congress were aligned with those of Pakistan, comments his critics called out as Islamophobia.

“Terrorists in Pakistan are threatening jihad against India. And here, those in the Congress have also announced to do vote jihad against Modi ... that means people of a particular religion are being asked to vote unitedly against Modi. Imagine what level the Congress has stooped to," he said.

The Congress party and other political opponents have characterised Mr Modi’s remarks as “hate speech” that could fan religious tensions and have also filed complaints with India’s Election Commission, which is overseeing the polls, for breaching rules that ban candidates from appealing to “caste or communal feelings” to secure votes.

An animated video put out by the BJP was later removed from Instagram after it sparked a backlash for demonising Muslims. The Hindu nationalist party have been accused of widening the country’s communal divide by targeting religious minorities, particularly Muslims, on the campaign trail for the ongoing national elections.

The commission, once regarded as an aggressively fair umpire of India’s election, can issue warnings and suspend candidates for a period of time over violations of the code of conduct but no such notices have been issued to Mr Modi, invoking questions about the independence of the body.