UP polls: PM Modi turns temple visit into show of strength

It was not supposed to be a rally or a road show. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was going to seek the blessings of Kashi Vishwanath and Kala Bhairav, the two main deities of the city, before kick-starting the phase-VII campaign with a public meeting. But, what it turned out to be would put any political rally to shame. 

The Prime Minister was to start from the Banaras Hindu University’s statue gate at around 9 am. Small crowds started gathering all along the road to the temple at as early as 8:30 am. Being Saturday, school children were having fun. They got Modi masks, BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) flags, lotus badges, saffron Nehru caps and scarves to have fun with. 

Bigger boys had their bikes on which they rode triples up and down with flags and standees of Modi and Amit Shah on the free road, cleared of regular vehicular traffic. 

By the time Modi began his move after paying respect to the Madan Mohan Malaviya statue at the BHU gate, it was already 11 am. 

Dressed in sparkling white kurta and a shawl with a slender, elegant saffron border, Modi was at his charismatic best, waving and smiling at the crowds on both sides of the road.  “The man has something. If he gets enough strength in the Rajya Sabha, he can do wonders. This caste-based politics will end,” an elderly man said. Conches blew long and loud amid chants of “Modi, Modi”, driving the crowd into hysteria. Moving into the narrow Assi-Lanka road, women and children shower petals of marigold and rose. The SPG commando on the vehicle tried to wave off the flower shower, but gave up. He continued to keep a close eye on things falling through. Amused foreign tourists chatted, laughed and clicked away an elderly BJP supporter who had dressed himself with party flags. 

A young woman on a terrace shrieked the PM’s name aloud as her friends broke into a laughter.  Everyone wanted a piece of action. “Batteryva khatam ho gaya, somebody is disappointed. Slogans like “Kamal kilao Voteon se, UP bachao choron se”, “Ashwamedh ka ghoda hai BJP ne choda hai” rent the dusty air.  By the time he reached Assi Ghat, it was noon. City mayor Ram Gopal Mohley was on the road managing the crowd. 

At Bhaidani, a Congress party office comes by and a group of Congress and Samajwadi supporters waved their flags at Modi. As the BJP workers got chatty, the cops pushed them away to prevent excitement turning into something uglier. Sudhir Kumar, the local bureau chief of a national newspaper, said Modi has stolen the wind out of the other massive rally planned by Rahul and Akhilesh, by drawing the crowds on his way to the temple. “In this stretch (old city), the crowd is responsive. It is a masterstroke. That route the crowd is different,” he explains. 

Just past the Harish Chandra ghat junction, where a group of Sahara workers in their black and white uniform greeted their leader, a young brown bull surfaced out of nowhere just past the Harish Chandra Ghat.  It headbutted to clear the way into the rally getting close to the Black Safari just in front of Modi’s vehicle. An amused Modi took a long look with a half-smile before the Nandi baba is escorted to the safety of back alleys. 

Suddenly, the policemen started pushing through. Why are they doing this, people wondered. Then a sudden stiffness engulfed the surroundings. As the rally entered the Muslim-dominated Madanpura, there were not as many people in the buildings around. Even those few, who were peeping out, did not seem to be showering petals and waving. They looked quietly. 

Then a small dilapidated building emerged where there were Modi posters and, on its terrace, a large group seemed to have many of them from the Muslim community. They were responding and waving. Modi stopped for a while to receive a traditional bouquet of red roses. By the time his Toyota SUV moved past Godowlia Chowk, where the road to Kashi Vishwanath temple parts, it was 1 pm.  “Kya bheed hai, dekhne layak hai (such an unprecedented crowd has gathered),” a wide-mouth somebody shouted to be heard amid the din, as it took another 15 minutes for the entire cavalcade to pass the chowk.

Remember, this was not a public meeting or rally officially, he was just on his way to the temple, you see. Therefore, for over two hours, the greatest of contemporary orators did not utter a single word. Yet, it seemed Varanasi understood everything he wanted to say.