This is because religious polarisation and demonisation of minorities have been part of a tried-and-tested electoral strategy for the BJP. The ploy is expected to fetch rich dividends in Assam that has had a complex and contested history of illegal migration. So Mr Sarma has been working hard at speaking with a forked tongue. That Mr Sarma, and many of his peers, succeed in doing so repeatedly speaks of a failure on the part of India’s Opposition. Secularism as a principle, as everyday praxis, has remained trapped within hallowed texts: the Constitution is an example.

Source: The Telegraph February 10, 2026 02:54 UTC