For the whole of last week, it seemed India's capital had shifted some 500 miles south east to the holy town of Varanasi. Nestled on the banks of the river Ganga, Varanasi - known locally as Kashi or Banaras, has become more than a just a town linked to the spirituality it bestows upon its visitors; it has become larger than life; for on May 12 it will bear witness to the most decisive political battle in this year's Lok Sabha elections.
Lenity would force observers into believing that the fight for the Varanasi seat is a three horse race (Uttar Pradesh's ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) isn't even in the running). This is indeed music to the ears of his detractors, but they may have to concede that Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) PM-candidate Narendra Modi is the frontrunner to wrest the key constituency. Other claimants for Varanasi include the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Arvind Kejriwal, whose short-lived stint as Chief Minister of Delhi was seen as utterly tumultuous and a betrayal of those who voted for him; and the Congress's lesser known candidate Ajay Rai, who built his chequered career as a BJP legislator before defecting to the former.
The 2014 election is touted to be 'the biggest' poll of its kind, not only because of the enormity of India's voting populace (estimated to be well over 800 million), but because come May 16, the world's largest democracy is likely to witness the proverbial and electoral decimation of the ruling Congress party.
The Congress, patronized and run by the Gandhi family for decades has had a vice-like grip on the nation's political and jugular vein. Modi, who's making his first foray into national politics, is widely expected to ride the eponymous wave of fervor and anti-incumbency and form India's next government.
Holding the Congress's last stand is the family’s diffident heir Rahul Gandhi, who has failed to sway the tide in his party's favor. When all hope was lost, he even went about influencing voters in poll booths during polling in his constituency Amethi, but was let off scot free by the Election Commission of India
(EC) even after several complaints were lodged in his name.
The EC's credibility as a neutral poll body came under fire when it rejected BJP's application for Modi to hold a rally in Varanasi's Benia Bagh, but granted his opponents including Kejriwal, Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh's Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav permission to campaign at the same venue.
Making the most of what he could, Modi instead led a gargantuan roadshow from the Kashi's prestigious Banaras Hindu University (BHU) to the party's headquarters in the city. The three mile stretch took more than four hours to cover, as hordes of supporters and townsfolk thronged the streets to catch a rare glimpse of a man who could very well be India's next Prime Minister. Beyond doubt, Modi's procession made a greater impact than a rally ever would have. Such was its success that it forced his political rivals to stage roadshows of their own.
"If Modi comes, can Kejriwal be far behind?" asks one observer, who witnessed all the other Modi-induced rallies. Kejriwal indeed wasn't far behind. A day after Modi came and conquered Kashi, "Kejriwal was met with many supporters, but this didn't seem quite different to his protest rallies and his dharna," he adds. Only a few months ago, Kejriwal graduated from full time agitator to bit-part politician to unsettled administrator. His party has come of age a little too quickly, but it seems it hasn't quite shaken off its cantankerous side.
Only days earlier, Modi addressed a massive rally in the Gandhi’s bastion Amethi, which came as an alarm to the first family. It didn't come as much of a surprise when Gandhi returned Modi's favor, showing up with his own motorcade in Varanasi in a relatively meek show of strength. Much to the former’s dismay, not only was his Kashi rally dwarfed by Modi's, he had to deal with a rival procession a few miles away from his own – Akhilesh Yadav's. Yadav's rally had no real purpose behind it, except perhaps, to avoid a loss of face in the state he has sloppily ruled.
As has become quite fashionable this election, all three men went all guns blazing on Modi. What they didn't realize however is that, in an attempt to emulate Modi and throw dirt on him, they have actually played into his hands. Not only is Modi expected to win a majority of the Hindu vote (Hindus comprise 85% of Varanasi's population); the close contest between the other parties will ensure that the minority vote is split between the three. Modi couldn’t ask for more.
In all honesty, the Varanasi roadshow rut was unnecessary yet exuberant. For once, it did illuminate the 'City of Lights'; probably like never before, or after.
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