Pardon me for interrupting in the middle of a “LITERALLY HITLER REEE!” but LOL if you don’t think every every other political party isn’t trying to appeal to some caste or the other particularly at the local level. Of course they do because democratic politics is about people first and ideas second. In India jati is the basic unit of society, in Ancient Greece it was the Demos (which is exactly the same thing) and in other countries yet other tribal groupings.

But that’s not the end of it. Sure Hindus (who are not nearly as monolithic as you think) appreciate that BJP seems to be supporting their values but that in itself would not have been enough. Modi’s success comes from being perceived as someone who gets things done. I was recently Gujarat UP and Delhi and talked to people from all walks of life. There’s a huge amount of optimism that life is getting better and rightly or wrongly Modi is getting credit for it. Maybe it’s a mirage. Maybe it would have been just as good with someone else but this is in fact the perception on the ground and those who want an alternative ignore it at their peril.