If you say Modi will win from Varanasi, you are not saying anything intelligent; but if you say Modi will win with a huge margin, you are saying something intelligent. The question is not the victory but the margin. In a state where caste predetermines victory, that’s hardly surprising because Varanasi consists of 30% Baniyas who traditionally support BJP.
But Modi campaign 2014 has redefined poll campaigning in India that it will never be the same bullock-cart game anymore. Simply put, it will be a multi-crore marketing warfare, with strategically-designed themes and engineered crowds. In short, the budget could be second only to the winning American Presidential candidate.
Henceforth, personality projection will be central to the campaigning. Sops and doles will have few takers, though they still work up to a point with the rural voters.
The consumate skill of Modi in identifying the regional aspirations is a thing every candidate aspiring for a job in Delhi will have to learn. In Eastern UP, it is not development but backward caste that sells; in Varanasi, it is the iconic saffron; in backward Bihar and the rest of the country, it is a million jobs for the youth, which development implies; but in Didi’s Bengal, it is Saradha scam.
Another highlight of the Modi campaign is the media blitz, as if history is being created here and now. Modi’s arrival at Varanasi and the roadshow that followed before filing nomination papers is almost like an IPL match and or a Sachin Tendulkar match. Indians love hero-worshipping – they worshipped Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, Indira Gandhi. Ideologies do not matter, but they want heroes. And now there is Modi, ready for the pedestal! Â
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