Choppers, drones, vedic chants in massive Modi road show in Varanasi

Filing one’s nomination papers is typically a routine event at a district magistrate or sub-divisional magistrate office. But April 24, when BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi files his nomination papers from India’s spiritual capital, Varanasi, promises to be a grand spectacle. No other candidate filing his nomination ever evoked so much of curiosity, hype and even preparedness – among people, party, media, security and other government agencies. Every detail is being planned to perfection, from the time he lands in Varanasi at around 8 am to the time he leaves at around 1 pm. There will be TV cameras, overhead drones, helicopters, Vedic chants, priests, religious rituals, international and national media, security personnel, active Election Commission observers and, of course,  Modi.  The streets of Varanasi,  BJP leaders claim, will turn into a sea of jostling crowds. The party claims that three lakh people are expected to be on the roads to be part of this mega event. [caption id=“attachment_1494337” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] The media coverage couldn’t be more intense. One such pre-nomination show on a television channel went awry when Aam Admi Party leader Somnath Bharti was beaten up. Modi, on his part, has deliberately chosen April 24 for his filing. It is last date to file nominations for May 12, which is the last phase of polling. By doing it on that day he will be accountable to EC for his expenditure for fewer number of days. The date also coincides with sixth phase of polling for 117 candidates in 12 states including those in UP, Bihar, MP, Chhatisgarh, Mumbai, Rajasthan and other places. Modi can expect to receive extensive TV coverage which may impact voters going to the polling booth. Modi has also carefully chosen the four people who will propose his nomination: Justice (Retd) Giridhar Malaviya who is the grandson of Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, founder of famed Banaras Hindu University; musician Dhanulal Mishra; Veerbhadra Nidhad from boatman community; and a local weaver named Ashok. All four representsocio-economic breadth of Varasansi. The party had earlier wanted Ustaad Zamin Hussain, son of Shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan, to be one of the people proposing Modi’s nomination, but he declined and made his position public. The BJP claims that he did so under pressure from the political elite in Delhi and in Lucknow. If there was any fear of Brahmin backlash, besides Malaviya and Mishra, the memories of Atal Bihari Vajpayee have been invoked afresh. Huge posters with Vajpayee’s pictures have been erected at various vantage points of media centre including in the backdrop of the dais. Some say that Vajpayee’s image are used as an accounting strategy: so the expenses are not attributed to Modi’s campaign but to the party. If this was the only issue, then Shyama Prasad Mukherkee and Deen Dayal Upadhaya pictures could have been used, as they have in the past.  The party strategists surely chose to revive memories of Vajpayee’s charisma with some electoral dividend in mind. The leaders Modi plans to garland is also notable – Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Bhim Rao Ambedkar and Swami Vivekanand. While Modi will fly out of Varanasi after filing his nomination, he will return here and stay for two days when it gets closer to the date of polling. This should be after campaigning for eighth phase of polling is over on May 5th. By the time he returns to concentrate on Varanasi with an eye of maximising his lead, elections in most states and constituencies would be over.