While the BJP and Narendra Modi’s office has tried to play down the Gujarat CM’s remark that his opponents see as being aimed at the minorities, the “secular” parties have united to go at him all guns blazing.

In an interview with Reuters news agency, when asked whether he regrets what happened in the 2002 riots in the state, Modi said, among other things, “Another thing, any person if we are driving a car, we are a driver, and someone else is driving a car and we’re sitting behind, even then if a puppy comes under the wheel, will it be painful or not? Of course it is. If I’m a chief minister or not, I’m a human being. If something bad happens anywhere, it is natural to be sad.” (Read the interview here)

Since 2002, Modi has rarely made much mention of the riots, and his focus on his purported good governance and development model has fetched him the returns in three state elections since. In fact, Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s attempt to invoke the riots – she called Modi “maut ka saudagar” in pre-assembly election rallies in 2007 – made the party eat humble pie in the state.

There are indications that the electorate across the country has matured over the last decade. In this context, many see Modi’s attempt at divisive politics – to reap electoral benefits by polarising the two communities – as a suicidal attempt. While the BJP claims the two lines are being blown out of proportion, and that Modi was in fact showing his “sensitive” side while making that remark, will the ‘puppy’ statement harm the BJP as the poll heat soars?