Tale of India's two sharpshooters, Modi and Abhinav Bindra

Shooting has been the flavour of the week in India. At the forefront of the shooting brigade was not just India's sole Olympic champion in shooting, Abhinav Bindra, but also India's ace political champion, Narendra Modi.

Like Modi who leads from the front, Bindra was the flag bearer during the opening ceremony at the Rio Olympics.

Unfortunately, for India, both fell just a wee bit off the mark.

Also read - Why I'm not convinced with what Modi said about Gau Rakshaks

The prime minister took aim first. He dared those who target Dalits, to shoot him instead. "Goli mere par chalayiye, mere Dalit bhaiyon par nahin," he thundered in Hyderabad on Sunday evening.

Though it seemed as if he was attacking the opposition, his constituency was the extended Sangh Parivar, whose wayward sharpshooters have been holding the country to ransom by indulging in cow vigilantism.

Those who train their guns and lathis and other weapons at Dalits are "naqli" gau rakshaks, he had explained at an earlier public meeting in Medak. He had put their percentage at around 80 per cent a day before in Delhi.

The remaining 20 per cent are genuine cow lovers, whose work too is getting tarred with the same brush, was his reasoning.

If you ignore the melodrama, the PM scored a perfect 10, speaking like a statesman but it was not good enough for him to grab podium space.

His message was rebuffed and the intended target was not amused.

The Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha threatened to send a legal notice to Modi, warning that the BJP would pay a heavy price for this labelling in the Uttar Pradesh elections in 2017.

While his alma mater, the RSS supported Modi, it was also unhappy with the 80 per cent piece of statistics that Modi had plucked out of thin air.

Also read - The real losers at Rio Olympics 2016

Members of the Punjab Gau Raksha Dal, a bunch of lumpen anti-social elements as Modi described them, accused the PM of backstabbing them, claiming they had supported him in the 2014 polls.

Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi asked the PM to walk the talk. Some said that he should have broken his silence on Dadri soon after it happened, given the horror of the incident.

Others pointed out Modi had not included Muslims in the not-to-be-shot list along with Dalits and said it smacked of the politician in Modi, instead of the PM, talking.

The insinuation was that Modi had offered to be the shield for Dalits only because he needed their votes in Uttar Pradesh and his image internationally was taking a beating for his inability to rein in cow vigilantism.

Oceans away in Rio de Janiero, India's shooting champ Abhinav Bindra did not hit bullseye either. He suffered a nasty fall on D-day, damaging the sight on his rifle.

Bindra shot with a replacement but perfection of the sort he gained in Beijing eight summers ago eluded him. He was the last hope standing in Rio, as other Indian medal hopefuls in shooting had fallen by the wayside.

But the man from Chandigarh lost out on the bronze by a whisker - a few millimetres to be precise - prompting a collective India gasp of "Oh, shoot".

Bindra's technical trainer, Heinz Reinkemeier of Germany blamed the Indian mindset that expects every athlete to go for gold. It won't happen unless the system is perfect, Reinkemeier who is also a psychologist, reasoned.

Also read - Stars and teams to watch out for at Rio Olympics 2016

Reinkemeier could well have been talking about Narendra Modi. Just like Bindra, the expectations from the PM are humongous. Every time any member of the RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal, ABVP and the BJP has stepped out of line, Modi is expected to answer for him.

That he does not, is construed either as silent backing for their deeds or an inability to rein them in.

But like Bindra would tell you about the sport of shooting, every fraction of a second matters. The PM has perhaps realised that lack of a spontaneous response is hurting his credibility.

Especially when he himself admitted "Mujhe itna gussa aata hai (I feel so angry)". Especially for someone who uses Twitter as an effective communication tool.

But with cow vigilantism showing no signs of stopping, Modi has finally read out the riot act. FIRs have been lodged post Modi's public disapproval of the self-proclaimed protectors of the holy cow.

Will errant India fall in line? The jury is out.

Also read - How Modi reached out to Dalits without alienating gau rakshaks

But clearly, Modi has decided to adopt the thanedaar approach, realising carrots will make a halwa of his political journey at 7, Race Course Road.

India invested in Modi, who came with the promisory note of "achhe din" in 2014. The last two years have however, seen Modi's extended "parivar" create roadblocks in the path of "vikas" (development) that he harps on, by focusing on issues like ghar wapsi, beef ban, love jihad, cow vigilantism and pop nationalism.

Taken purely at face value, Modi's "Attack me, shoot me" is an attempt to walk with his head held high, even if he does not win.

If nothing, he would not be accused of lack of messaging.

Just like Abhinav Bindra, who despite not being able to deliver a "Made in China" in Brazil, earned the respect of his nation for having given it his best shot.

Literally.