Modi Wave: Has ‘Hindu Mind’ Been Rigged? Full Story in 8 Charts

Surveys reveal how Hindus hugely differ from Muslims, Sikhs & Christians in terms of behaviour & political views.

It began as an off-the-cuff comment by All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi, but has now become a full-fledged debate – does Narendra Modi’s spectacular victory in the Lok Sabha elections mean that the “Hindu mind” has been rigged? Here’s what some prominent commentators said:

• “For the ideologues of BJP and RSS, including the top leadership, this election has endorsed the project of Hindu nationalism – namely, the creation of a Hindu majoritarian state and polity.” - Ashutosh Varshney in The Indian Express
• “The defining idea of Narendra Modi’s landslide 2019 victory is Hindutva, the ideology that defines Indian culture in terms of Hindu values.” - Rana Ayyub in Time
• “Modi has become confident that the Hindu mind has been vulgarised and become so spiritually hollow that even a crudity like his Kedarnath yatra can pass off as a religious expedition.” - Apoorvanand in The Wire
• “It is clear that traditional ways of thinking about caste are declining, and it is allowing BJP to mobilise a wide cross-section of Indians across castes into a larger Hindu narrative.” - Pratap Bhanu Mehta to The New Yorker
• “All Hindus – distressed farmers, jobless youths, oppressed Dalits, businessmen skeptical of the BJP’s economic policies – were called upon to forget their circumstances and vote for their nation. Many of them did, and they made history.” - Snigdha Poonam in Foreign Policy