Modi's Kashi Yatra: Lavish merger of religion & politics by the PM

Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati let it out that as many as 55 cameras, 7 satellite uplink vans, drones, RF cameras and ‘Jimmy Jibs’ (cameras which can be moved with the help of a crane) besides the ubiquitous teleprompters were deployed at Varanasi by Prasar Bharati to cover the inauguration of the Vishwanath Temple corridor by the Prime Minister this week.

Most TV channels carried the events live, described the occasion as ‘historic’ and gushed at the transformation of the temple at an estimated cost of Rs. 800 crore. Every step of the Prime Minister from his dip in the holy river to inspecting the Varanasi railway station at 1 am was photographed and video-recorded. BJP chief ministers from 12 states converged on the occasion and later travelled together to Ayodhya.

Videos of people showering rose petals on the Prime Minister were widely shared on social media with supporters gushing, “He has done what couldn’t be done in centuries. That’s why people are welcoming him like a Maharaja”. Awed fans wondered at the 71-year-old Prime Minister taking a dip in the December cold. Others mused whether it was possible to take a dip in the river with spectacles in place.

Others were not so amused. ‘In the olden days, Roman emperors hosted games and gladiators to keep people’s attention diverted so that they didn’t revolt. What do you think Modiji is doing?’ asked a detractor.

On social media people amused themselves by sharing the five different dresses that the PM was seen wearing in the course of the day. There was a sixth one he put on at night, judging by photographs shared. Who said changing dresses six times in a day was easy?

People also made fun of photographs in which the PM appeared to be looking away from the deity and at the cameras. ‘Cameras target some while some target the camera’ was one of the wisecracks. The Prime Minister posed before a clock at the station with the dial showing it was 1 am: proof that he works 18 hours a day as he has repeatedly claimed. Someone commented, “While PM supporters are happy, my complaint is that nobody thanks the cameraman”, who too might have logged in an 18-hour-day.

The Prime Minister getting him self photographed with construction workers, showering flower petals on them and then sitting down with them for a meal came in for high praise. Supporters felt it was a beautiful gesture. The uncharitable pointed out the flask specially kept for the PM and his tray placed properly while the trays placed before the workers had been placed facing the wrong side. More tellingly, none of the workers seemed to have turned their trays, so frozen with fright they looked.

The event management received full marks from observers. Only the habitual critics carped at the misuse of the taxpayers’ money. “Those who keep taunting JNU students for wasting taxpayers’ money do not find this vulgar display obscene,” asked an irate housewife in Lucknow, but on condition of anonymity.

Others questioned the Government spending public money on building airports, expressways and temples when people in Uttar Pradesh, as elsewhere, are grappling with inflation, unemployment and hunger; when by the Government’s own admission it has been forced to reduce allocations for MGNREGA, scholarships and on welfare schemes. That the Prime Minister used the ‘official’ event as a political platform no longer surprised people. But there were doubts being voiced whether the religion card would be as effective in Uttar Pradesh in 2022 and it was in the last assembly election in 2017.

The fact that BJP is forced to work overtime to ensure crowds to attend PM’s meetings in the state is cited as indicative of public anger. School children in uniform and MGNREGA workers, it is being alleged, were mobilised for the PM’s rallies in Uttar Pradesh and even then chairs were unoccupied and people streamed out while he was speaking.

In contrast, opposition leaders, strapped for funds and receiving no publicity from mainstream media, are still drawing huge crowds. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s last rally in Varanasi drew an impressive 100,000 people while Akhilesh Yadav has been addressing rallies even past midnight to surging crowds. “Whether they get translated into votes is a different proposition but what it shows is that people are angry,” conceded a senior journalist.

While doubts are being expressed whether the PM’s bid to play the ‘Hindu Card’ and once again make religion the centre of BJP’s campaign would work, there is consensus that ‘Jaago Hindu’ is the only card left for the BJP after nearly five years of misrule.

Lighting lakhs of lamps and distributing laddoos, watching a laser show and Ganga Aarti on the banks of the Ganga are good optics and help in overawing people, say observers. But the current mood is reminiscent of the post-Emergency days, they say. But beware of the BJP, they caution. They are sure to pull out several rabbits before the polling day. Another pogrom or a riot? Restrictions on the Opposition for the Omnicron variant? The jury is out.

Meanwhile, writing on NDTV’s website, Rajmohan Gandhi summed up the Varanasi event in these words: “To Hindus rich and poor, Modi is selling the drug of supremacy. No matter how hard or risky your life may have become, Muslims and Christians will cower before you if you take this drug. Even if you are hungry or unemployed, you will finally be on top! Modi doesn’t need to spell out this message, vigilante squads will yell it out as they chase helpless Muslims and Christians in BJP-run states. From Modi himself, signals suffice.”

(This article was first published in National Herald on Sunday.)