Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Uttar Pradesh on June 28 and will address a big rally in Maghar – a non-descript town in Sant Kabir Nagar which is home to the ‘samadhi’ and ‘mazaar’ of 15th century poet Sant Kabir. Amidst hectic efforts of opposition parties to stitch a grand alliance against the BJP ahead of the 2019 lok Sabha elections, the PM’s rally is being touted as the formal launch of BJP’s campaign for the coming general elections.
The Maghar rally would be BJP’s showcase for the coming lok Sabha polls to counter the proposed unity move of the opposition in UP. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has taken up the charge of ensuring the success of the rally where the party has set a target to mobilise around 2.5 lakh people.
The BJP is eyeing the weavers’ community for the 2019 elections and through his address, the PM will try to woo the community as well as Vaishnava nagas as Kabir was widely believed to be the disciple of Bhakti poet - Sant Swami Ramananda in Varanasi.
Vaishnava nagas have a huge presence in the region panning across Varanasi, Chandoli, Gorakhpur and Sant Kabir Nagar.
BJP sources said in lucknow on Saturday that Yogi would himself would supervise the rally preparation from June 26.
“All BJP MPs and legislators of eastern UP including Sant Kabir Nagar have been summoned for a meeting with the CM in Gorakhpur on June 26 to assess arrangements and the number of people attending the rally,” sources said.
Besides, all 11 eastern UP district chiefs of BJP have been given a target to bring people for the rally. As per programme, the PM would reach Maghar on June 28 and stay there for four hours. He will visit the shrine of Kabir at Maghar and later address a public rally.
UP Tourism department has already initiated steps to promote Maghar as a tourist destination where Hindus have built a temple in memory of Kabir, while Muslims have constructed a mausoleum in his memory.
Yogi proposed to include Kabir’s shrine in the tourist map of Uttar Pradesh. The state government has also made an allocation of Rs 25 crore for Kabir circuit project in 2018-19 which will have an interpretation centre, public gallery and exhibition, tracing the journey of Kabir from his childhood.
The Archaeology department has been roped in by UP government to curate all memorabilia from Varanasi or elsewhere on Kabir which would be showcased at the mausoleum.