Is modi's presence in varanasi a sign of bjp's desperation to win up polls

Is Modi's presence in Varanasi a sign of BJP's desperation to win UP polls?

UP Assembly Elections 2017 - Till the third phase of the UP assembly elections, the BJP had a relatively quiet campaign, but it seems to have changed its tactic mid-way through the fourth phase, making excessive use of the prime minister.

Varanasi: For the last three days, the political capital of the country seems to have shifted to Varanasi. Yesterday, it witnessed the rally of an ex-chief minister, a road show of the current chief minister with the vice president of the main opposition party, and a ‘de-facto road show’ of the prime minister – all in a single day. As residents breathe a sigh of relief after yesterday’s historic road jam, their problems are not likely to ease till March 6, the day when the campaign for the last phase of the UP elections comes to an end.

Most hotels are fully booked and scores of OB vans are stationed in Varanasi as journalists from Delhi and UP remain camped in the city, along with a number of star campaigners, officials and security personnel. There

is a camera in every other tea-kachori shop, clichéd talk shows in boats on the Ganga or at Assighat have flooded television screens, and ‘local experts’, popularly called ganmany naagrik, are overworked as journalists run out of ideas to do stories on. In this scenario, a surprising development is the sudden increase in rallies and the presence of Prime Minister Modi in Uttar Pradesh.

The current scenario After its failure in the Bihar elections – where Modi and Shah were over exposed in a high decibel campaign – and the success in Assam elections – where local leaders got prominence in a comparatively low profile campaign – BJP leaders were relying more on the Assam model in UP till the third phase. However, it changed its strategy mid-way after the fourth phase and in the last two phases, a sudden surge in Modi’s rallies and programs – including a three day stay in his constituency, Varanasi – shows that the party has decided to once again over expose its biggest star.

A clash of conspiracy theories While the above reasons appear to be the most likely explanation for the prime minister’s three day program in Varanasi, some other theories are abound. One theory is that the BJP is winning UP elections now, and the party wants Modi to be credited for it, which is why it has increased his presence in the state. Adding weight to this theory are two broad assumptions. One is that the party has the widest spectrum of electoral support, spread across upper castes, OBCs and Dalits, which means it is likely to get the highest vote share. Second it appears to be the only party which is in contest on the highest number of seats, and thus is likely to win the maximum number of seats. Some experts cite the instance of 2012 elections, when the SP was fulfilling these two conditions and finally ended up winning 224 seats. (READ MORE)

ARTICLE SOURCE - BUSINESS STANDARD