Why is the BJP using fearmongering to polarise?

In an India facing high unemployment, particularly among the youth, rising prices, cost of living crisis, widening inequality, campaign finance controversies and the alleged capture of the democratic institutions and media control, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's campaign for 2024 Lok Sabha polls started with the promise of a developed India, national pride and the "Beyond 400" pitch.

This along with Modi's cult of personality politics, his building of the Ram temple and India's rise in the world order were expected to boost BJP's vote share and seats in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls. But after two phases of polling, the BJP seems to be worried that these issues are not shaping people's voting choices.

Although a CSDS pre-poll survey showed that majority of Indians were very concerned about rising prices, insufficient jobs, and allegations of corruption against the ruling regime, these anxieties were still expected to be outmatched by Modi's personal popularity and his 'Make India Great Again' pitch.

However, with the onset of voting, BJP's energetic pitch about its wide range of achievements over the last decade has been condensed into desperately calling its main opponent (the Congress) as a villain out to loot rights of the majority community, particularly the OBS, Dalits and tribals, to appease its vote bank (read Muslims). This shift in Modi's campaign showcasing grand dreams of a Viksit Bharat to generating fear of "women's mangalsutra would be stolen by the Congress hand" betrays fear of a very tough battle to cross the majority mark.