‘I admired PM Modi for his charisma. But his popularity has been falling. There is too much Hindu-Muslim binary’: NDA’s lone sitting Muslim MP, now in RJD
The lone Muslim MP of the NDA in the outgoing Lok Sabha, Choudhary Mehboob Ali Kaiser left the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) a few days ago to join the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) after being denied the ticket from Khagaria, which he has represented since 2014. He speaks to The Indian Express on his decision to defect and the “sharpened” religious binary in the NDA regime, and claims Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s charisma is “waning”. Excerpts: