Dozens of Ministers, MPs And CMs Are Camping In Varanasi. Is Varanasi Loosing Charm Of Modi Magic?
As Uttar Pradesh election entering to its last leg of phase and the battle for the thrones is going to be tough for BJP. All the political drama and action has shifted to the holy city of Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi. Dozens of cabinet ministers, more than 40 MPs and many Chief Ministers are camping in the city, all this for only 8 seats? Or all this is to save Modi’s magic
Party president Amit Shah is staying for over a week. Rajnath Singh, too, present in the City to campaign in the state. BJP MLAs From MP, UK, Bihar, UP, Chattisgarh, Rajsthan, Gujarat alimony from across the country has been deputed in every village of Varanasi.
Is it the nervousness of the Prime Minister in his own constituency?
Akhilesh Yadav, in his rally, also took a dig at Prime Minister Modi sayng “Modiji aap apna kaam lekar aate, toh itne mantriyon ko laane ki zaroorat hi nahi padti”
Further, we contacted to Dr Satendra Singh, Spokesperson SP. He says, “The people should not get deviated from the number of ministers camping for the BJP. This is just another one big Jumla to deviate the course of the mind of the voters”
The city will be the centre of all the political drama as Uttar Pradesh election reaches a crescendo.
As all the political party gears up to fight the elections, there is something unusual in the Varanasi, which is been noticed by Political Pandita The fielding of BJP’s Union Ministers, Chief Ministers and MP raises many questions. BJP, which has a lot at stake in Varanasi, has shifted its war room in the city, entrusting his ministers and Union Ministers to strengthen the party position from the ground.
The question here arises is the BJP, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s, images is seeing a serious dent in Varanasi? If not so, then why all the major party leaders who should be present in the Delhi are seen on roads. BJP has put all the force in Varanasi.
Is PM Modi’s image is fading in Varanasi? If not, then so many rallies, so many leaders, just for 8 seats, don’t make much sense. The BJP cadre has launched double the number of rallies in Varanasi alone, which indicates the force of Modi wave that can be seen during the 2014 general elections.
If Prime Minister Modi is confident of his wave, then why so many leaders are posted on the grounds.
In another attempt to view voters, the leaders who were camping for the BJP were directed to brief media on regular basis, so that their presence will be registered.
Besides this, the other challenges that BJP is facing in this elections are:
The Challenges
1) Resentment among the party workers and the leaders:
A larger section of the party workers within the BJP are distressed and irritated the way the party has been treating them since the announcement of the elections date in the five state.
Party’s worker demand and interest have been sidelined on personal gains in the elections, as the party is busy distributing tickets to the turncoats and not the own leaders. The resentment may dent the BJP image further Varanasi elections.
2) Bigwigs denied party tickets:
Seven times sitting MLA from Varanasi South assembly seat Shyamdeo Roy Chaudhary lift-off from the BJP list. Instead, the party fielded a young face Neelkath Tiwari to his place. Denial of Shyamdeo Roy Chaudhary also came as a shock to many senior leaders of BJP from east UP region
Another bigwig which was denied ticket is Jyotsana Srivastava, though the party showed faith in her son Saurabh Srivastava and grant him the ticket.
The BJP will be seen fighting this battle, as the upset candidates who were denied ticket by the BJP will not be campaigning for the candidates replacing them. This may be a major factor, as they may file their nomination as an independent.
3) BJP vs BJP
The BJP may land into a situation where the candidate may fight against their own people. The candidates who were denied tickets had filed their nomination as an independent. For example, in Varanasi North, two BJP rebels entered the fray as independents against the sitting MLA and party candidate Ravindra Jaiswal whose main rivals are Abdul Samad Ansari of Congress and Surjeet Kumar Maurya of BSP
Another candidate who filed his nomination as an independent is Sujeet Singh Tika, who withdrew his nomination in 2012 when party assured him that he will get a ticket in 2017, but the promise was not kept.
In another constituency where BJP is facing its own member is Sevapuri. The BJP allowed Apna Dal (Sonelal) led by central minister Anupriya Patel to field its candidate. But will be seen standing up against its party member, Vibhuti Narayan Singh. who filed his nomination as an independent.
4) The threat from BSP, SP-Congress and other independent candidates:
Taking the BJP and Prime Minister head on, the SP-Congress alliance has launched a “Dard-e-Banaras” campaign highlighting the “false promises and no delivery”
For the same, three raths are on road and videos can be seen playing on the same.
Hindutva Vs Ambedkar will be the another battle that BJP needs to take seriously, as Mayawati will be seen staging rallies in Varanasi, the Dalit card will be sure to come into play. Varanasi 13% population is Dalit, this will be the deciding factor for BJP.
The city will be the test for the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had contested from the Varanasi constituency and will be a challenge for PM Modi and team to win the maximum number of seats, as this will be the major factor in deciding the major course of the time
BY: Ananya Pandi