Indian voters view all political parties as corrupt, but only the B.J.P. as communal. One reason is that the party has traditionally been the beloved of the upper castes, and the prejudices of the strong, historically, have done more harm than those of the weak. This perception of the B.J.P. influences not only Muslims, but every community and caste that feels vulnerable to physical violence by a dominant political or cultural force. And they tend to grow fonder of their own political organizations.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, Yogendra Yadav, a political activist, wrote that polls usually overestimate the B.J.P. because of a sampling bias.

“The voters who agree to be interviewed tend to be more from powerful social groups,” he said. “The voters from weaker communities are less likely to speak the truth in public.”

If some voters are so insecure that they are afraid to speak the truth to a pollster, it is not hard to imagine how much importance they attach to a political guarantee of harmony, and how much they despise anything that the strong adore. The middle class and the rich, who are not vulnerable to mob violence, may consider corruption the greater evil. But for most of the rest, it would appear that politically motivated sectarian conflict is.

If the perception of the B.J.P. as communal deepens, what should worry Mr. Modi is that there is no such thing as a majority population in India — only a sum of minorities.

truthbetold wrote:CD

Perfect cover for corrupt Jagan. isn't it?  Your objectivity is only matched by your honesty. How low would you stoop ?

According to Pratyush Sinha, who stepped down as India's Central Vigilance Commissioner on Monday, only 20 per cent of the country's people are steadfastly honest, while he describes the remaining 50 per cent – more than half a billion people – as "borderline". His comments, made in an interview with the financial newspaper Mint, highlight the scale of corruption and the extent to which it is institutionalised. It also amounts to a challenge to countries such as Britain, who want to increase trade with India.

Mr Sinha said his greatest concern was that corruption had gained a "social acceptance" in India. "Society is no longer seriously concerned about corruption and there is social acceptance. When we were growing up I remember that if someone was corrupt they were generally looked down upon. There was at least some social stigma about it. That is gone," he said.

truthbetold wrote:CD

sure. we know what happened to all the Jala yagna money, don't we? You proved beyond doubt pseudo secular = Opportunist power grabber.

truthbetold wrote:CD

a good businessman greases both sides of the fence. Look at Tatas  and Ambanis.

Vakavaka Pakapaka wrote:In BIMARU Bihar, voters already voted corrupt buggers to power. In the 2014 election, in AP, several BIMARU guys voted for Jagan's Oadrpu party.

There is one thing common to these two states - if you supply alcohol, people will vote for you. In AP, if they are paid some money, people will even vote for stinkers. So, obviously, Jagan has burnt a lot of his black money in 2014 that he is frantically trying to recover. He bought a lot of land in Donakonda, Prakasam dist thinking that the capital will be built there. Unfortunately, he can't sell that waste land to anyone now. There is no guarantee that he will do well in the next election. In other words, he is screwed!

If the youth are satisfied with their education, jobs and life in general, they won't vote for corrupt buggers. Even in Bihar, the youth didn't vote for Laloo.

After the death of YSR, not too many state leaders are going to Soonya with money bags. She must be wondering how she can make her moronic son the next PM.