In November, last year, Kamal Haasan had slammed right-wing extremism, accusing Hindu groups of using muscle power and indulging in violence. That invited a police complaint by Hindu outfits, with the BJP calling his remarks “myopic and brazen”. Haasan had to subsequently clarify that he was only opposing violence in the name of religion.

Coupled with the belief that the actor is a rationalist, this has now forced wannabe-politician Kamal to be more upfront about his Hindu identity. “How can I be an enemy of the Hindus when my own brother and daughter are devout Hindus?” he wrote in his weekly column in a Tamil magazine.

In Boston over the weekend, Kamal may have felt gratified that his fans do not see him as anti-Hindu. One particular fan had drawn a sketch of Kamal Haasan, depicting him as Lord Murugan, replacing his vel (divine spear) with a mike stand. Though Kamal has appeared as Lord Murugan in a comedy scene in Kaathala Kaathala, the fact that his fan saw him as a Hindu God in a political avatar, would have gladdened him.

Why did Kamal Haasan have to emphasise his Hindu identity? Was it because he felt that in a Hindu-majority Tamil Nadu, he stood to lose politically if he was portrayed as someone whose mindset was not in conformity with Hindu beliefs and way of life?

Kamal isn’t the only one. His colleague in the industry, Prakash Raj too pointed out that he is not anti-Hindu. Taking umbrage at the tag being thrown at him, Prakash Raj clarified that he is anti-Narendra Modi and anti-Amit Shah and that does not amount to being anti-Hindu. It was the actor’s attempt to push back at those who have opened a “Hindu religion” desk to issue notary-like, certificates of disapproval to anyone who is critical of the right-wing elements.

One year back, anyone who criticised the BJP was labelled “anti-national” and was asked to go to Pakistan. The branding has changed now, the jibe more personal. And BJP leaders themselves are accused of dividing the electorate along Hindu-Muslim lines.

Jaswant Yadav, a BJP candidate from Rajasthan’s Alwar that witnessed a by-poll last month, was accused of saying that Hindus should vote for the BJP and Muslims should vote for the Congress. A video of the speech, which showed Yadav making the statement on his campaign trail, was circulated on social media though he denied making the statement. Yadav lost the by-election despite his alleged attempt to electorally usurp the Hindu space.

Professor C Lakshmanan of the Madras Institute of Development Studies, that conducts research on development issues in India and particularly Tamil Nadu, sees in Kamal Haasan and Prakash Raj’s utterances an effort to take the BJP head-on.

“The BJP has been trying to encash on it politically — claim a certain superiority on account of being a Hindu. It is not right to say that only those who support the BJP are Hindus and Kamal is pointing that out. Likewise, Prakash Raj is saying I am a believer but am not a Hindu fanatic,” says Lakshmanan.

The effort then is to identify with Hinduism as a religion but not with the BJP’s brand of Hindutva. It is interesting that this is happening in Periyar’s Tamil Nadu that saw DMK’s M Karunanidhi successfully marrying atheist ideology with politics. But Jayalalithaa brought the AIADMK out of atheist beliefs and reaped the electoral benefits. Making a note of the changing demographic profile of Tamil Nadu and perhaps realising that it is the AIADMK vote that may be up for grabs, Kamal has emphasised that he is a rationalist, not an atheist.

Chennai-based actor and film historian Mohan Raman says the aggressive posturing by right-wing elements has made Hindus, who were not assertive about their religion, realise that for too long, they were being shortchanged for minority appeasement.

“Basically everyone in India is running after the moderate Hindu vote because the extreme Hindu vote is in any case, going only to one party. All of them are wearing clothes to fool the moderate Hindu,” says Raman.

Hyderabad-based author Professor Kancha Ilaiah sees this shift to a secular Hindu identity as a result of Modi’s assertion of his OBC status. In Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK has been seen as a Thevar and Gounder-dominated party and both backward class communities have played an important role in ensuring its continuance in power in 2016.

“There is a feeling that the backward classes are becoming more religion conscious in Tamil Nadu and otherwise. Modi puts forth both his backward class and Hindutva identity enabling a political targeting of this large voting group. This cluster was never seen as a homogeneous vote bank but now is being stitched together using the fabric of religion,” points out Ilaiah.

With a secular cloak seen as the equivalent of a pro-Muslim character, the Congress banked on Rahul Gandhi’s temple run during the Gujarat elections to woo the Hindu voters. In Karnataka, challenged by Yogi Adityanath to ban beef to prove his Hindu credentials, Siddaramaiah pointed to “Siddha” and “Rama” in his name to underline his Hindu identity.

The flip side of this metamorphosis among politicians is that the minority vote, till recently seen as a game-changer in several constituencies, is no longer wooed with aggression. Non-BJP politicians are now positioning themselves as ‘secular Hindus’ and 2018 and 2019 will determine if this new wrapper finds takers.