By Aliza Noor
In the run up to the Bihar elections next month, several leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been campaigning on the ground, covering different districts in the state. Even though the party has claimed that ‘development of Bihar’ is its main plank in the elections, instances of hate speeches and hate content seem to indicate otherwise.
On 19 October, BJP’s official X account posted an insulting graphic which showed a bus supposedly belonging to the RJD and Congress, carrying Muslims labelled as ‘infiltrators.’ These ‘infiltrators’ are visibly shown as ‘evil’ Muslims who are travelling with their belongings, including a goat, towards Bihar.
The caption reads, “Congress and RJD’s ‘Infiltrator Express’ — now heading towards Bihar.’
This is also not the first state election where the party has tried to create a bogey around ‘infiltrators’. In the Jharkhand Assembly elections last year, the party tried to create fears of “Bangladeshi infiltration” in Santhal Pargana. It had also issued a video advertisement showing a group of Muslims entering and squatting on a Hindu household.
The party had to withdraw the advertisement after being ordered by the Election Commission of India.
This story was originally published in thequint.com. Read the full story here.