Modi has left a big scope to doubt the genuineness of his reaction to Pragya Thakur’s praise for Nathuram Godse for the simple reason that his own aggressively vocal support base agrees more with her than him on this issue. Never in independent India’s history have we seen so much hatred for Gandhiji and what he stood for, and, as a corollary, so much openly expressed support for Godse as we have in the Modi years.

Godse might not have always figured in the Sangh Parivar’s ideological onslaught on the Idea of India. Nevertheless, one of its targets has been the idea and ideal of Hindu-Muslim unity, which is a central pillar of the Mahatma’s life and legacy. The fact Modi himself does not believe in the equality of status and rights of the majority and minority communities in secular India was quite evident when he slammed Rahul for deciding to contest from Waynad in Kerala.

The contrast between the campaigning of Modi and Rahul was quite evident on several important counts. Whereas the prime minister never stopped talking about himself – he almost never spoke in election rallies or media interviews without repeatedly taking his own name, Rahul Gandhi was a picture of humility and self-effacement. He once asked in a press interview: “Mere bahadur Congress karyakartaonke bina main Rahul Gandhi kaun hota hoon?” (Who am I, Rahul Gandhi, without my brave Congress workers?).

Whereas all of Modi’s interviews were held in the imperious environs of his official residence, and scripted to ensure no tough questions were asked, Rahul invariably gave interviews at the venues of campaign meetings where journalists were absolutely free to ask him any question they wanted.

As a result, there was palpable authenticity in the way Rahul faced the media, and severe lack of it in the way Modi did the same. The contrast between the two leaders was also seen in the fact that Rahul addressed many press conferences in the election season, whereas Modi addressed none. Indeed, in the only press conference in which he was present, a couple of days before the last phase of polling, he refused to answer a single question! This showed both his arrogance and his utter contempt for journalists’ right and freedom to ask critical questions and follow-up questions.

Rahul tried to focus his campaign (and so did his sister Priyanka Gandhi) on real issues facing the people and the nation – the crisis in employment, farmers’ distress, the disastrous impact of Demonetisation and flawed GST on the economy, the misuse of democratic institutions and politicisation of the Armed Forces for electoral benefits.

The substance and style of Modi’s campaign were very different. They had three features – polarisation, distraction, and self-glorification. First, Modi sought to polarise voters on communal lines. And making Pragya Thakur a BJP candidate was a part of this strategy. Second, he repeatedly tried to distract people’s attention away from the real issues, even at the risk of politicising the Defence Forces, an offence for which he knew the Election Commission would be too scared to reprimand him. Third, he and his party adopted a strategy of political marketing in which re-endorsement of Brand Modi became the main issue in this election.