Varanasi, April 15 (IANS) The climb from the ghats of Varanasi to New Delhi's 7 Race Course Road is proving to be steep and replete with roadblocks for Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial aspirant Narendra Modi, veteran Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) organizers admit.
"The BJP and RSS have given us the target of securing a victory margin of three lakh votes for Modi. He would be lucky if he manages to win by 30,000 to 40,000 votes. There are three parallel setups, often working at cross-purposes, entrusted with the task of managing Modi's election campaign. Is this how a war is fought and won," a veteran RSS organizer, who has managed successive Lok Sabha, state assembly and Varanasi Municipal Corporation elections since 1977, asked while speaking to IANS.
One set of workers comprise the local RSS cadre, who religiously attend the shakhas held every morning in their respective localities. Another set is that of mid-level RSS organizers sent to Varanasi from different parts of the country. The third set comprises of city and district party functionaries of the BJP.
"Those from outside Varanasi are handicapped because they don't know the local Bhojpuri language, the lingua franca of residents of Varanasi," says the RSS veteran, who is not only fluent in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Marathi, besides Hindi and Bhojpuri, but also knows by name each and every family residing in the intricate maze of narrow lanes and bylanes of the city.
"Being the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, Modi is widely known thanks to the high exposure in television and print media. But this need not necessarily translate into votes in his favour," he said, while not wishing to be identified as per organisational discipline.
"During election time, voters demand concrete assurance from the candidates and their party workers to redress their grievances concerning public utilities and civic services such as water, drainage, roads, hospital, school and livelihood," he added.
Modi's campaign workers lack motivation. "Gone are the days when RSS volunteers and BJP workers used to put in their own time and money to campaign for the party candidates. All political parties now engage paid workers, and the BJP is no exception," said another RSS organizer.
"For many political workers, election time is when they get the chance to make money," said Sunil Tripathi, a former activist of the JP movement of the 1970s.
Old-timers of RSS and BJP are also uncomfortable with Modi's campaign style and the use of information communication technology - the internet and the mobile phone. "BJP's district and city unit presidents don't even know how to send and receive an SMS, leave
aside using emails and social networking websites," a BJP municipal councilor said.
Modi's campaigners who have converged here from different parts of the country are mostly IT-savvy young men with whom the local party workers find it difficult to strike a rapport.
Lack of coordination and communication problem between the locals and outsiders apart, a more serious challenge facing Modi's campaigners is how to tackle the complex caste factor - the political alignments of various caste and community groups. Of the 16,00,000 voters in the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, there are over 300,000 Muslims.
Underworld figure Mukhtar Ansari's decision against contesting from Varanasi has dashed the BJP's hopes of splitting the Muslim votes and at the same time polarizing the Hindu votes in Modi's favour.
Yet another development that does not augur well for Modi was the fielding of Ajay Rai, a three-time legislator, by the Congress from Varanasi. Rai belongs to the powerful Bhumihar caste. The Kashi Naresh (king of erstwhile princely state of Banaras) is also a Bhumihar. There are over 40,000 Bhumihar families in the constituency.
As if utter disorder in the BJP's campaign team and the caste-community factors were not enough to upset Modi's apple cart, the decision by Aam Aadmi Party's national convenor Arvind Kejriwal to become his challenger has aggravated his worries.
"We don't know what issues Kejriwal is going to rake up and in which manner during his week-long stay in Varanasi beginning April 15. He is bound to spring a lot of surprises," a senior RSS campaign manager concluded.
Apprehensions and the disorderly campaign machinery apart, Modi is widely expected to win, though a low victory margin could dent his image.
Indians trapped in Afghanistan got a sigh of relief, special Air Force aircraft arrived to airlift
After the establishment of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, the Indians trapped there have got great relief. Commercial flights are closed from Kabul Airport and in the meantime, an Air Force plane has
Agni Prime: No longer for enemies, India successfully test-fired Agni Prime new generation ballistic missile
India successfully test-fired Agni Prime New Generation Ballistic Missile off the coast of Odisha at 9:45 am today. Agni Prime missile is a new generation upgraded version of Agni class missiles. Its
Kejriwal Wishes People on Maha Shivratri
New Delhi, Feb 17 (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Tuesday wished people on the occasion of Maha Shivratri."Good wishes to all of you on Maha Shivratri," Kejriwal tweeted.Millions of
My 'Second Hand Husband' role like Sridevi's in 'Judaai': Geeta Basra
Mumbai, Feb 2 (IANS) Actress Geeta Basra says her comedy film "Second Hand Husband" will see her in a role similar to what Sridevi essayed in the 1997 movie "Judaai".Talking about the movie, Geeta
A record over 84 thousand new patients were found in 24 hours and 1083 deaths occurred, while 65 thousand 520 were cured; 39.33 lakh infected in the country so far
On Thursday, 84,156 patients of Corona were found in the country. The number of infected has increased to 39 lakh 33 thousand 124. In 24 hours, 67,491 people have recovered and 1083 deaths have
Racist signboard outside the post office in Australia: Wrote- Indians cannot take photos; apologized for the objection
A racist signboard is placed outside a post office in Adelaide, Australia. It is written that Indians cannot take photographs. The Indians living there have objected to this. Hundreds of people in the
Allan Border urges Australia to Embrace Pressure
Melbourne, Feb 12 (IANS) World Cup-winning captain Allan Border Thursday urged Australia to make the most of the pressure and expectation that comes with hosting the game's biggest event.Host
There was an echo of laughter in the stadium on Hardik's fielding: Butler slipped while catching a simple catch, and the ball crossed the boundary
The first qualifier match of IPL 2022 was played between Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Titans. The team of Gujarat Titans won this match by 7 wickets. With this, Gujarat became the first team to reach
Children were pelted with money in Kanpur: Local leaders and people of the locality distributed money, and provoked them by feeding biryani
During the violence on June 3 in Kanpur, children also pelted stones and bombed. This has been confirmed by the investigation of CCTV footage and viral photo videos. On the orders of the National
Prana Pratistha ritual from today: Ramlala will sit on the throne on the 18th, and the idol worshiped for 70 years will also be kept.
The ritual of the consecration of Ramlala at Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple will start on Tuesday and will continue till January 21. The statue of Ramlala will be installed on the designated seat in the
