Varanasi is in news. Just 40 out of 403 constituencies will go to polls on March 8 but the region is hogging the limelight. A big question is why Varanasi and the adjoining region going to polls in the final phase are so importantIJ
All top BJP leaders from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to party chief Amit Shah and from Union Ministers to RSS leaders and from poll strategists to election managers have stormed this VVIP constituency. Prime Minister held three roadshows — though the BJP claims these to be Janata Darshan.
The question is why Varanasi is that importantIJ
A senior BJP leader said if the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance works, the BJP’s road to success in Varanasi can get very tough. “Muslims and Yadavs together make a very formidable combination on all the seats, especially, the urban ones. If the two segments remain intact with the alliance, things can go against the BJP,” he said.
Therefore, the challenge for the BJP, and most importantly for Modi is to ensure the BJP’s dominance in the region. An effort is to capitalise on ‘Brand Modi’ and that’s the reason why top brass of the BJP stormed Varanasi.
The fact is despite Varanasi being the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister, BJP’s Vidhan Sabha performance has been poor show. In 2012 it could just win four seats — Varanasi North, Varanasi South, Cantt and Mungra Badshah in Jaunpur.
The BJP hopes for a counter-polarisation and is also banking on long-drawn in-fighting between rival sections of the Congress in the districtIJ The symbolism of Modi’s visits to temples, including the Kal Bhairav, might just be a subtle attempt at revoking a larger Hindu identity.
A Congress leader Rajesh Shukla said the BJP had always been able to polarise the elections in its favourIJ “This time we are trying hard not to let it become Hindu vs Muslims poll,” he said.
Out of eight seats in Varanasi, the alliance has three seats. This includes the Congress stronghold of Pindra, from where party MlA Ajay Rai is contesting again. The Samajwadi Party has Rohaniya and Sevapuri seats, while the BSP has MlAs from Ajagara and Shivpur.
BJP MP from Gorakhpur Mahant Adityanath tried to downplay the concerns. “Anyone is a PM or Minister later and a party worker first. Since it is an election and we are taking it seriously, every worker is devoting his time and energy for the cause,” he said.
Congress State spokesperson Kamlakar Tripathi said, “The BJP is highly anxious. The alliance is giving their leaders sleepless nights. It’s not only the battle for UP. Modi ji’s is probably keener on saving his honour in his own parliamentary constituency.”
When, in 2014, the BJP decided to field Modi from Varanasi, several agendas were in mind. One, of course, was to silently emphasise Modi’s ‘Hindu’ image and his connect to Ganga, a strong symbol of Hindu religious and cultural identity. Politically, it was also aimed at long-term strategy to give the BJP a strong launchpad in the east from where both eastern UP and Bihar could be influenced.
Bihar elections last year had been a bitter pill for the BJP. Will UP be a sweetenerIJ The results will be known on March 11. But before that, the Prime Minister is ready to face his biggest challenge.
The stakes are really high. As one of the disgruntled MPs of the BJP said, “Somewhere between Bihar and Delhi lies Uttar Pradesh.”