Prime Minister Narendra Modi appeared to be in his element during his recent three-day Gujarat visit. The carefully planned programme was a heady mix of spirituality, the vibrant Gujarat model and foreign policy. The curated, high-profile events, amplified through extensive media and social media coverage, were possibly part of larger electoral and political calculations, as Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry will soon head to the polls. This visit could well mark the symbolic blowing of the electoral war horn.

The fervent and somewhat divisive religious rhetoric against foreign Muslim invaders, and the characterization of the rebuilding of the Somnath temple as a tale of victory, was reminiscent of Ram Temple politics. The invocation of “Somnath Swabhiman”, echoing “Gujarati Asmita”, underscored a politics of identity and pride that catapulted Modi to power. The shrewd evocation of repeated assaults on the temple, the eternal faith of Hindu devotees, and the civilisational resolve to rebuild it is part of the BJP’s old playbook. The narrative turned overtly political when Modi attacked the opposition Congress for “whitewashing history” and, in the name of “appeasement”, kneeling before “religious extremism”, even as he eulogised two towering Congress leaders — Sardar Patel and Dr Rajendra Prasad — for their role in rebuilding the shrine.

Beyond offering solemn prayers in the glare of cameras, Modi participated in the Shaurya Yatra marking 1,000 years since the first attack on the temple by Mahmud Ghazni. The event was marked by pomp and spectacle: dazzling fireworks, a procession of 108 feudal-era horses, high-tech drone shows, and slogans of religious nationalism such as Akhand Somnath–Akhand Bharat, all deftly packaged to glorify valour and sacrifice.

The Prime Minister followed this with the inauguration of the Vibrant Gujarat Regional Conference for the Kutch and Saurashtra region in Rajkot, projecting the mantra of “Vikas bhi, Virasat bhi” — a blend of development and heritage. It recalled the high-profile Vibrant Gujarat summits of the past, which Modi had effectively used to project himself as a development messiah. He then met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Ahmedabad, an encounter replete with symbolism: flying kites bearing images of Hindu deities like Hanuman, alongside national flags and motifs of leaders, capped by the mandatory visit to Mahatma Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram. This meeting assumed added significance at a time when Modi’s carefully crafted image as a global leader transforming India into a Vishwaguru had taken a hit, and India’s foreign policy was increasingly perceived to be floundering in the wake of Trump 2.0.

With its combination of religion for political ends, development dreams and global superpower aspirations, the BJP appears to be back to its time-tested basics in its first laboratory and Modi’s home ground, Gujarat. Unsurprisingly, the shrill religious demagoguery nearly drowned out the other two strands. After the 2024 general election results, many political pundits had speculated that Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party and Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) would restrain the BJP’s Hindutva politics and authoritarian tendencies. That assumption now appears misplaced. The BJP seems to have consolidated its position and continues to push its agenda, evident in the weaponisation of central agencies against political opponents and the amping up of anti-Muslim rhetoric, bordering on Islamophobia, without significant resistance from its so-called secular alliance partners in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. The BJP’s Hindutva-with-development gamble will now be tested in DMK, TMC and Left bastions.