Stung by Narendra Modi’s aggressive campaign in Amethi on May 5 and undermined by persistent rumours that its low profile Varanasi candidate Ajay Rai had virtually withdrawn in favour of Arvind Kejriwal, the Congress vice president conducted a four hour road show in the city on May 10 morning, in order to rally the troops. This was followed by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s road show to whip up support for the Samajwadi Party candidate Kailash Prasad Chaurasia. The Aam Aadmi Party’s Arvind Kejriwal held an unofficial road show (not approved by the Election Commission) on Friday evening.
The BJP’s candidate for the constituency, Narendra Modi, had campaigned in the rural segment of Rohania on May 8, but was denied permission to hold a mega rally at Benia Bagh in the heart of the city. Modi then turned the tables on Returning Officer Pranjal Yadav by travelling by road from the BHU Campus to the BJP office at Sigra, which became a massive road show of nearly four hours, till late at night. The Election Commission was divided over the manner in which Yadav handled the matter and eventually appointed Tamil Nadu electoral officer Praveen Kumar as special observer for Varanasi. This effectively sidelines the Returning officer, who is also the district collector.
With netas thus walking down the path beaten by the BJP’s Prime Ministerial contender, Varanasi has once again become a four-cornered contest. Political observers feel this will work to the advantage of Narendra Modi as the anti-BJP votes will be fragmented.
Among Modi’s rivals, the Congress hopes to benefit from the timely release on parole of mafia don turned politician Mukhtar Ansari, two days ahead of the Varanasi poll, ostensibly to facilitate his campaign in Ghosi, where he is contesting on a Quami Ekta Dal ticket. Ansari has been permitted by a CBI court to campaign in Ballia and Mau districts as well. He has already announced support to Congress’s Ajay Rai in Varanasi.
In a show of bravado against Narendra Modi’s Amethi rally which is expected to upset his applecart, Rahul Gandhi reached Varanasi on Saturday morning, the last day of campaigning in the constituency. He began his road show from the Muslim-dominated Gol Gadda Chauraha and received a handsome turnout, though it was nowhere near the frenzied mob that the BJP candidate encountered on May 8, which brought the city to a halt. The Congress vice president culminated his road show at Lanka Dwar and later addressed a meeting at Sathwan, in Chiraigaon block. Gandhi was accompanied by Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and candidate Ajay Rai.
Thereafter, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister jumped into the fray with his road show in order to boost the prospects of the Samajwadi Party candidate Kailash Chaurasia who is regarded as relatively weak in comparison to his high profile rivals. Akhilesh Yadav is also keen to undermine the efforts of the Congress vice president, whom he has not forgiven because, in the 2009 bye-election in Firozabad, Rahul Gandhi campaigned for the Congress candidate Raj Babbar, which resulted in the defeat of the Chief Minister’s wife, Dimple Yadav. The Chief Minister took his revenge in the 2012 Assembly elections, holding a cycle rally in Amethi and ensuring the SP’s victory in three out of five Assembly seats there. Now, with stakes high for the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, he cannot afford to give any quarter to his rivals, particularly those perceived to be on a weak wicket, like the Gandhi scion.
Meanwhile, seeing the peaceful conclusion of Rahul Gandhi’s road show, BJP leader Arun Jaitley assailed the Election Commission and the Varanasi administration for granting permission for the Congress vice-president’s road show via Benia Bagh after blocking Narendra Modi’s rally on grounds of security. As three other parties, including the ruling Samajwadi Party, were also given permission to hold road shows, it was obvious that “security concerns” were used selectively, he charged.
As Varanasi awaits its D-day on May 12, the dhaba which briefly produced and sold rotis with the legend ‘abki baar Modi sarkar’ looks forward to its own deliverance. For the ruling Samajwadi Party, it must have been the unkindest cut of all that the owner is a caste fellow. But then, politics makes strange bedfellows.
Niticentral.com, 10 May 2014
http://www.niticentral.com/2014/05/10/varanasi-netas-in-the-footsteps-of-modi-222146.html