New Delhi, May 26, 2023, IANS

New Delhi, May 26 (IANS): Close to three of every five Indians are of the opinion that the regime headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is mostly about 'Hindutva' and 'Nationalism'. This was disclosed during an exclusive survey across India conducted by CVoter to mark nine years of the Modi regime.

Narendra Modi was sworn in as the Prime Minister on May 26, 2014 after he led the BJP to a historic majority of 282 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.

During the election campaign in 2014, Modi emerged as a leader who publicly took pride in his identity as a Hindu and promoted unapologetic nationalism.

This has led to a polarisation of Indian polity and prompted many critics to portray the prime minister in an unflattering light.

There are hardly any major differences of opinion on this issue except the Muslim community that does not perceive Modi and his regime in very favourable terms.

Nationalism and Hindutva were "embedded" ever since the Prime Minister decided to personally contest Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi, one of the oldest and most holy cities that mark Hinduism.

Perhaps the only major difference of opinion is among supporters of NDA and UPA.

While more than 61 per cent of UPA supporters are of the opinion that "the politics of the Narendra Modi regime revolves mainly around Hindutva & Nationalism", about 52 per cent of NDA supporters shared the same sentiment.

That could be because NDA supporters also cite welfare schemes as part of the core agenda of the Modi regime.

Nevertheless, since Modi became Prime Minister, the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya has started in earnest after a Supreme Court verdict, the Kashi Vishwanath corridor has been completed, the brand new structures in Ujjain Mahakaal Temple have been completed and numerous religious tourism voyages have been launched.

During his regime, Hindu temples have been opened even in many countries in West Asia.