Midway through the UP assembly elections, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the kabristan-shamshaan statement, it was seen as an attempt to polarise voters by highlighting minority appeasement and “bhedbhav” (discrimination) by the Akhilesh Yadav government. Modi, who had been talking of development until then, had suddenly changed tack and introduced religion into his campaign pitch. This is widely believed to have been done at the behest of his party chief Amit Shah, who is said to have convinced Modi about the possible dividends.