Modi to contest from Varanasi

Modi’s own Maninagar assembly constituency is part of the Ahmedabad East Lok Sabha constituency. However, it would be difficult to make its seven-time winner, Haren Pathak, vacate it. Balkrishna Shukla, the Lok Sabha member from Vadodara and a former mayor of the city, is a first-time time MP. Sources say Modi met senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) functionaries in Bangalore late last week, where the Sangh took his concurrence to contest from Varanasi, too. The meeting was on the sidelines of the three-day RSS-organised convention that concluded Sunday.

Why
The RSS and BJP believe fielding Modi from Varanasi is important for success in the crucial states of UP and Bihar. They think this would have a cascading effect in all of purbanchal – not only the 28 seats of eastern Uttar Pradesh but also those in adjoining parts of Bihar. As many as 18 of the 28 of eastern UP’s seats and six of Bihar’s 40 seats that border UP poll the same day, May 12, the last phase of the elections.

The decision to field Modi from Varanasi would have the added advantage of keeping BJP workers galvanised until the end of the election in the two crucial states, said a party leader.

“Benares (Varanasi) is the epicentre of purbanchal. We believe Modi’s presence will electrify the election in that region, blunt the influence of both the SP and BSP and keep Sangh Parivar workers motivated,” said a party leader. Eastern UP was a poor hunting ground for the BJP in the 2004 and 2009 elections.

Party strategists believe Modi could win easily from any seat in Gujarat. The state has single-day polling for its 26 seats, on April 30.

Party sources say Modi contesting from two seats would also send the message across that the BJP-led coalition's prime ministerial candidate could win from any part of the country. Party sources say the Sangh Parivar spent much time and effort before approving Varanasi as the seat Modi should contest from in UP. Sources claim there was electoral method in the decision. “It isn’t merely a desire to strike a ‘Somnath to Kashi Vishwanath’ chord among the faithful. This is a hardnosed electoral strategy,” said a source.

Catalysis hope
Sources say the decision should be seen as part of the party's ‘Mission 272+’, which aims at maximising the strike rate in the 250-odd seats of the total of 543 the party believes it can and should win, considering it is handicapped by weak presence in large swathes of southern and eastern India.

Party leaders dismiss criticism that Modi would be wasting a seat, as well as taxpayer money, by contesting from two seats, since he would need to resign from one if he wins both. They citing precedents of leaders from across the political spectrum employing such a strategy to improve their party’s electoral chances. “The electoral gains of fielding Modi from Benares would be massive,” said a UP unit leader.

It is an assessment the RSS has helped the BJP reach. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat spent a week in Varanasi in early February, gauging public mood and tuning the Sangh machinery. Bhagwat, the Sarsanghchalak, then conveyed his assessment to the BJP brass. Party sources say the issue on whether Modi should at all contest from two seats, one of which should be Varanasi, was settled then.