The time was 5.15 pm. BJP’s PM candidate Narendra Modi had just descended at the BHU helipad after having taken on the Election Commission for the second time during the day at Rohaniya on the outskirts of Varanasi, where the poll watchdog denied him permission to hold his rally. “The Congress must understand. The people have defeated you, the Election Commission can’t make you win,” Modi had thundered at Rohaniya.
On a normal day, it would have been just a 10-minute drive to cover the 2-km stretch from the varsity to the BJP headquarters. But when he finally reached the party office, it was more than three long hours. It was well past 9 pm. The reason was two-fold.
Denied permission to hold his rally at the famed Beniabagh in the heart of the city, BJP had planned its move deftly to turn the situation to its advantage, one that resulted in both the party and its PM candidate holding national centrestage the entire day as news channels aired it live throughout.
It planned Modi’s travel from the BHU — which he exited around 6-10 pm — to the party headquarters not through the straight route but through a circuitous 6-km stretch covering Ravindrapuri, Sonarpura, Madanpura, Badi Godaulia, Girjaghar Chauraha, laksa, Rathyatra and Sigra — where the party office is located. The normal travel was effectively turned into a mega roadshow with the prohibitory orders turning ineffective.
Secondly, the protest demonstration led by its senior leaders during the day had already galvanised the party workers who along with people lined up in thousands on both sides of the road from the varsity to the party headquarters. Reports then poured in about the EC denying him permission from travelling in an open vehicle confining Modi to the front seat within his SUV.
However, the translation of “adversity” into “advantage” was there for all to see. The ‘roadshow’ drew larger crowds and enacted a spectacle that could not have emerged in and around Beniabagh which was not made available to him by the administration for “security reasons”. The drive through the city also exposed the logic of alleged “security threats”.
Hordes of spectators, including BJP workers in saffron caps, bandanas and party flags, stood on all possible vantage points to have a clear glimpse of the most talked about leader this elections and applauded him as he waved to them from inside his car.
People craned their necks, jostled with each other and landed on roof-tops and trees to have a look at the motorcade carrying Modi. “Modi, Modi” was the continuous refrain of the massive gathering in the stretch that separated Benaras Hindu University, the starting point of the roadshow, from the BJP office where Modi drove to meet party workers.
“The decision of the Election Commission was atrocious. It seems it is working in consultation with the Congress leadership. The EC has banned the meeting. Can it now ban the roadshowIJ” Anil Kumar Singh, a BHU student said reflective of the mood among the Modi supporters thronging the streets.
This was the last visit of BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate to Varanasi before it goes to vote on May 12. “What did the EC gain by banning the rally. The BJP was able to get more mileage in form of this road show. It would have been better had District Magistrate allowed rally in Beniyabagh. That would have also saved people from inconvenience,” Manish Mishra, a trader, said adding “I have seen such enthusiasm during Ram Janmabhoomi days. I never expected that Modi, being an outsider, will get such a response.”
“I was returning from office and just joined these people for fun,” said Ashish Bagchi, pointing to the crowd of youth dancing at the beat of drums and shouting “Har Har Mahadev” and “Abki baar Modi sarkar”. But given the spontaneous response of the people it’s more than evident Modi is definitely having a clear edge, he maintained.