What makes Modi's Wardha rally politically significant

Nagpur: Modi’s Wardha rally is rich in symbolism. We are next to Sevagram, Mahatma Gandhi’s home in central India. Having decided as he left on his Dandi March to return to Sabarmati only upon achieving independence, Gandhi travelled for some months upon his release from jail, eventually settling down in Shegaon, Wardha, a village he renamed Sevagram. There is reportedly some opposition to the visit in neighbouring Sevagram from some Gandhians. Modi is expected to visit Bapu Kutir before arriving at the Wardha rally venue.[caption id=“attachment_1442799” align=“alignnone” width=“300”] BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. PTI[/caption] There is also a whole lot of complex politics behind the signature rally in Maharashtra and Vidarbha being located in Wardha, next door to Nitin Gadkari’s Nagpur. Why not Nagpur? Is it the 3 lakh Muslim population of Nagpur that Gadkari must consider? Is it the need to make the best of the opportunity in Wardha, where BJP is fielding Ramdas Tadas, a former NCP leader who joined BJP in 2009 but lost the assembly poll in 2009? Veteran Datta Meghe of the Congress is not contesting, he managed to get his son Sagar the ticket though there were primaries held here. Other contenders in the Congress are crying foul. There could be a major anti-Sagar Meghe faction in the Congress. Tadas could gain from a big Modi push. Incidentally, Tadas is a Teli, the caste of the prime minister in waiting. Local newspapers have dubbed Tadas a dummy candidate, speculating that the BJP is playing a friendly game here. Perhaps in some kind of trade off for the highly influential senior Meghe’s assistance in Nagpur. After all, Sagar Meghe is a former BJP MLC, known to have been close to gadkari. A rally by Modi wipes out that speculation - the prime minister candidate is hardly going to waste his time on a dummy candidate. That brings me to the question, does Gadkari not need the Modi push in Nagpur? By all accounts, he is facing a tough contest even if he has an edge right now. The Congress’ s many-time MP Vilas Muttemwar is seen as a non- controversial but ineffective face. But he has his math done as far as caste factions must be taken into account. As does Gadkari. The answer to why the Vidarbha rally is in Wardha, not Vidarbha, is the delicate numbers game. Local politics, street level equations, caste, cooperative bank politics, religious leaders’ affiliates, a whole gamut of local factors will influence the result in Gadkari’s Nagpur if it is as close a contest as predicted. To add the highly polarising Modi to a delicate balance could just go either way, a risk Gadkari may not want to take right now.