On May 13, as the results of the Karnataka Assembly elections began to trickle in, I was exchanging WhatsApp messages with Kannada writer Vivek Shanbhag, whose last novel Ghachar Ghochar brilliantly spotlights India’s post-liberalisation descent into darkness. “Hopefully, the results in Karnataka will be a sign of change happening in the country. All divisive forces were applied in excess before and during this election by the Bharatiya Janata Party. This is why even a single seat less for the BJP than what it got in 2018 means a strong message,” Shanbhag wrote.

Karnataka, lately, became India’s heart of darkness. Its people bristled over hijab, halal meat, love jihad, religious conversion, cow slaughter, not to forget Tipu Sultan and reservation for Muslims. Karnataka’s darkness thickened as Prime Minister Narendra Modi pounced upon the Congress’s poll promise to ban the Bajrang Dal, a vigilante group affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, to dub the party anti-Hindu and try to consolidate Hindus behind the BJP.