There was a time, starting with his Independence Day speech in 2014, when even Indians who had not voted for Prime Minister Narendra Modi imagined that they too could be a part of his growth and development vision for India.

This belief was reinforced in March 2015 when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formed a coalition government with the People's Democratic Party in Jammu and Kashmir. In those months – despite odd attacks on churches, provocative statements of his party and ministerial colleagues, and a sangh affiliate's controversial Ghar Wapasi campaign – it appeared that Modi was willing to put the divisive past behind him.