India, Feb. 11 -- It was the first meeting of its kind. The then national president of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajnath Singh was meeting about 300 Muslims from across the country at a convention in Delhi. Singh made a fervent appeal: Will the community give one chance to the party in the upcoming elections?

The party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, tried to win the community's support as well, talking about his desire to see Muslims with the Quran in one hand and a laptop in the other. Subsequently, in his first term, Modi abolished the triple talaq, a move commended by the women from the community and condemned by their religious leaders.

Though the BJP never deviated from its Hindutva agenda, the perception of neg...