New Delhi: A fierce battle of will between two of the top contenders for the Prime Minister's office has transformed a normally tranquil Varanasi, one of the world's oldest inhabited cities and India's spiritual nerve centre, into a symbolic battleground for political rivals Arvind Kejriwal and Narendra Modi, both hoping to upstage each other in Lok Sabha elections 2014. And then there are the other contenders with their heavyweight party leaders who have also begun to arrive here.
Kejriwal, the driving force behind one of India's youngest political parties, the Aam Admi Party (AAP), has been camping in Varanasi for over a month now. On Saturday, Rahul Gandhi hit the roads, with thousands of supporters waving Indian flags and beating massive drums to campaign for the Congress's candidate Ajay Rai in the city. But it's not just the politicians who have disturbed the equilibrium of 'unchanging' Varanasi. The world media is camped here. Independent bloggers and common men and women eager to soak in the fanatic passion the world's biggest exercise in democracy generates have gathered here as party campaigns accelerated over the past few weeks.
While the late maestro Bismillah Khan's family played the shehnai at Gandhi's political event, guitar-strumming youths showed their solidarity for the Congress vice-president by taking to the streets singing songs. In wired India, the election coverage continued online with people from the ground live tweeting from the road shows, posting jokes and taking swipes at ideological opponents.
The BJP, which was earlier asked to shift the venue for a Modi rally in Varanasi and eventually cancelled the candidate's programmes, is unhappy. Its leaders questioned the neutrality of the Election Commission and asked if rules are different for each political party. "Rahul Gandhi's roadshow is happening in the same area of Varanasi where we were not allowed to hold a rally. This clearly shows that it was only due to political reasons that BJP wasn't given permission," party leader Arun Jaitley said.
"Rahul Gandhi can do a roadshow here. Kejriwal can do a roadshow. Akhilesh Yadav can do a roadshow but only Narendra Modi can't," BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad, now camped in the holy city, alleged.
"It seems security reasons are an issue only for the BJP and not other parties. How come rules are different for the other three parties?" Jaitley asked.
Congress leaders dismiss this argument. "Such a roadshow may be new for Modi or Kejriwal but not for the Congress party. Those who are calling it tit-for-tat politics aren't aware that Rahul held a similar rally here in 2004. BJP was given the necessary permissions to campaign here too. They've made a show out of it unnecessarily," said Ghulam Nabi Azad.
Security personnel nearly outnumbered spectators as people crowded overhanging balconies in congested parts of the city to watch the procession of Congress caps and saffron banners. Meanwhile, state Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav descended on the city to campaign for Kailash Chaurasiya of the Samajwadi Party and his supporters' red caps added another colour theme to the city streets by the afternoon.
Party workers, who are labouring overtime before the city goes to the polls on Monday, covered their heads with scarves and caps in the sweltering heat as loudspeakers, normally used at the ghats for religious ceremonies, continued to broadcast political slogans and speeches, unsettling many in the usually quiet neighbourhoods.
Sandip Roy from FirstPost, who is in Varanasi, tweeted pictures of streets strewn with political pamphlets and petals from torn garlands as Gandhi made a "whistlestop tour in Varanasi". He shared a photo of AAP supporters standing with a man dressed up in a mask and chains to symbolise corruption.
Rai arrived on a horse with a marching band following him, tweeted author and screenwriter Advaita Kala, also camped at Varanasi. BJP's women supporters stamped people with a lotus symbol, she said, sharing pictures from the street.
As the different parties' supporters mingle or pass one another warily and the security apparatus tries to be in control of the situation, as slogans and rhetoric jostle for supremacy in these much-trodden streets and holy spaces, the stage is set for what will be, on Monday, the most watched battle for a constituency during Elections 2014.
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