The serial bomb blasts at a campaign rally of opposition prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in the eastern Indian state of Bihar on Oct. 27 have exposed the degree to which political fever is being exploited by unscrupulous elements.

The incident not only helped Modi and his rally gain extensive media coverage but also gave him a reason to pour scorn on Bharatiya Janata Party’s former ally and the ruling party Janata Dal — United (JD-U).

The rumor making the rounds in India is that the BJP was behind the blasts so as to gain political ground against its rivals.

Irrespective of who is to be blamed for the blasts, they definitely have added more heat to the ongoing election campaign. Though communal fire has never been out of Indian politics and electoral campaign, at present, the leading candidates are going overboard in indulging in a blame game along communal lines.

In a bid to absolve itself of its communal past and emerge as a “secular” force, the BJP has blamed media for giving it a communal image. On its part, the Congress is not losing any opportunity to remind people of the BJP’s communal background. Against this backdrop, it would be appropriate to understand the degree to which Indian voters can be moved by using these communal cards.

Since elections are still several months away, the communal card being exploited at this moment may lose its political fire by then. There is sufficient time for the Indians to understand and analyze the credibility of the political hype created by leaders along communal lines. India is one of the few secular countries, where people of different religions have the right and freedom to practice their religions.

Constitutionally, they are expected to respect other communities and ensure that their religious practices do not cause any harm or damage to others. In keeping with essence of true Indian secularism, a citizen can be extremely religious and also completely secular. To be recognized as “secular,” the question of being non-religious or anti-religion bears little importance in India.

Communalism creeps in when certain leaders uses religion to create malice against people of other religious communities. During election season, political communalism is practiced actively at different levels to divide votes along religious lines. It is sad that Indian Muslims continue to suffer the most from such tactics.

Will Muslims suffer in Bihar, reputed for its secular values, in the aftermath of these blasts? This remains to be seen. It is not without reason that Congress leader Digvijay Singh has tweeted that the blasts have provided “a perfect setting for Modi’s launch in Bihar.”

There is, however, no denying that blasts have certainly added some communal fire to Bihar’s politics. This is a development that has been desired by the BJP for a long time. Bihar is one of the few states where communal politicking for antagonizing Hindus and Muslims against each other has not been successful. The nature of Modi’s rally, preceded by bomb blasts for which a few Muslims have been allegedly held responsible, has sparked political communalism in Bihar too.

The BJP is probably banking on the revival and spread of communal fire among ordinary Indians, which helped it politically in 1990s. Will the BJP succeed? At present, it cannot be ignored that common citizens are not giving parliamentary elections as much importance as are the political leaders and the media. The common Indians do not want their lives to be disrupted by communal violence.

It is true that the electoral battle for parliamentary seats is assuming the shape of a political war between secularism and communalism. The Patna blasts have added a communal touch to Bihar’s politics as well because of their link with Modi’s rally. The interpretation would have been different if six of the eight serial blasts had not gone off at Gandhi Maidan in Patna, the venue of Modi’s rally. Had they not gone off ahead of Modi’s rally, the blasts would have been analyzed from a different angle. Now, it is to be watched as to whether communalism that has entered Bihar will stay there, gain force, spread elsewhere or will die a slow death with Biharis deciding to distance themselves from it as they have in the past.

• Nilofar Suhrawardy is an Indian freelance journalist who has written extensively for national newspapers.

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