Now, you might ask, what has religion got to do with politics, these are two different things, right? But if you look around the world, you will see politics is heavily influenced by religion.. Even though the United States is secular country, it might not accept people other than Christian in the power. In my home country, which is also a secular country, people might not accept the head of the state other than a Hindu.
Well, as for the United States, for instance, politics has totally ruined Christianity. Some have argued Christians have sold out either to some social justice platform or some anti-empathy conservative thing.
In my own country, our politics is divided along religious lines. We have two major religions in the country and political positions are equally divided to accommodate the two religions almost equally, unless they would be an uprising.
Politics and religion have always been closely correlated, as you say, although a country presumes to be secular that does not have much to do with reality, in many countries the political leader is also religious or spiritual as well.
There is always religious undertone to politics. People vote with religious consciousness. In my state for instance that is 97% Christians, a Muslim person can't even bother contesting for governor no matter how credible he might be, a weaker opponent would easily win just whipping up religious sentiments as main campaign manifesto.
