The Modi government’s move to confer India’s high civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, on veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader LK Advani along with Bihar’s socialist leader and icon Karpoori Thakur, makes a major political statement ahead of the general elections. The message is that the BJP is heading into the polls on the twin planks of Hindutva and social justice, a combination the opposition is finding hard to counter.