The
Bharatiya Janata Party's Uttar Pradesh election in-charge, Amit Shah,
has commenced his final assault to capture the holy city of Varanasi.
In
Shah's ranks are 51,000 saffron storm troopers, 20 for every one of the
2,553 polling stations where the last and most important battle of the
ongoing Lok Sabha elections will play out on May 12.
The
plan is audacious: every voter in Varanasi is to be monitored on the
BJP radar. Shah seems to have his numbers figured out, but he's got
strategic reserves too. About 1,200 trusted Modi soldiers from Gujarat
will have all of Varanasi on a roving beat come polling day.
BJP youth workers campaign for Narendra Modi in Varanasi
Local BJP leaders from Gujarat have been asked to send half-a-dozen
party workers from each taluka. There are 226 talukas in Gujarat.
Varanasi zone president of the BJP Laxman Acharya told Mail Today that
their target is to give a personal touch to the event by welcoming
voters at polling stations.
"This
is the reason that we are selecting local youths for this purpose. They
will personally know each voter by name, and will welcome them to cast
their votes," he said.
It'll
take some doing, though. Armed with local voter lists, the volunteers
will have to identify every person on their watch, a mission that will
involve legwork through every lane and bylane of Varanasi.
"As
far as the BJP workers' arrival from Gujarat is concerned, they are
coming here as our wellwishers and as pilgrims in the temple town. We
welcome them in our city and offer every assistance to them," said
Acharya.
Other plans
The BJP is working other fronts as well. Expecting that the members of
the Gandhi family would campaign there for Ajay Rai, they have deployed
Dharmendra Singh, grandson of Raj Narain, to scuttle any plan of the
Congress to dent Narendra Modi.
"We
expect massive verbal attack on us by the Congress leaders in the next a
couple of days. Since Raj Narain had defeated Indira Gandhi in Rae
Bareli in 1977, his grandson's presence here as a BJP campaigner will
shake their confidence," said a BJP leader on condition of anonymity.
The socialist leader's grandson had joined the BJP in January this year
and was initially assigned to mobilise voters in Bihar. But he was
diverted to Varanasi.
A
resident of Motikoat village in Gangapur area in the district,
Dharmendra is son of Jai Prakash Singh, the second son of Raj Narain. He
was working in a multi-national insurance company in Canada before
joining the BJP.
"Raj
Narain's socialism was based on equality and prosperity. Modi is
contesting election on the issues of composite development, employment
generation and social security. This is the best socialism," said
Dharmendra.
The
BJP has also deployed Alka Rai, wife of slain BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai
to campaign for Modi in Varanasi. For the record, Rai was the most
influential Bhumihar leader of the area. But he along with Awadhesh Rai,
elder brother of the Congress candidate, was killed in 2005.
Jailed mafia-turned MLA Mukhtar Ansari, a leader of Quami Ekta Dal
(QED), is an accused in the case. But the QED has extended its support
to the Congress candidate for reasons not clear yet.
Alka Rai is visiting Bhumihar-dominated areas, seeking votes for Modi and against the criminal leaders.
Meanwhile,
AAP leader Prashant Bhushan has written to the Election Commission to
make arrangements for video surveillance on the booths of Varanasi on
polling day.
Not in the line of FIR...?
A
day after Narendra Modi was booked for making a speech at a polling
booth while displaying the BJP's election symbol in violation of
electoral laws, a preliminary probe by the Gujarat Police has found he
addressed the gathering outside the restricted 100-metre radius.
"Just
like any other case, we will investigate this case to find out the
facts. Our preliminary probe (has) revealed that authorities had marked
that limit with a white strip outside the booth, and the press
conference was outside that limit," said a senior officer of Detection
of Crime Branch of Ahmedabad police.
The
model code for elections prevents canvassing within 100 metres of
polling stations. An FIR was lodged against Modi on Wednesday for
holding a meeting at the polling station. -PTI
'I am not like Modi, who hid his wife'
AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh
Congress
leader Digvijaya Singh on Thursday used his acknowledgement of his
relationship with a woman journalist to target Narendra Modi, saying he
is not a coward like the BJP prime ministerial candidate, who hid his
marital status for years.
Congress, meanwhile, steered clear of questions on whether Digvijaya's
announcement has caused an embarrassment to the party, while his son and
Madhya Pradesh MLA Jaiwardhan Singh said his father's move to remarry
was a personal matter and extended full support to him.
"As
far as I am concerned, I don't hide my relationship which Mr Modi does.
I am absolutely clear in this. I am not a coward which Mr Narendra Modi
unfortunately is," the 67-year-old AICC general secretary said.
Digvijaya
took to Twitter on Wednesday to announce his relationship with TV
anchor Amrita Rai and plans about marrying her after social media went
viral about it.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police on Thursday registered an FIR on a
complaint filed by Rai alleging hacking of her email account and posting
of malicious content on social media with an intention to outrage her
modesty.
On
the basis of the victim's complaint, a case was registered under
sections 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman) of the IPC and 66-IT Act
at Crime Branch. -Agencies
