GENERAL ELECTIONS 2014
Arvind Kejriwal is in Varanasi - worn-out news,
isn’t it?
Let’s see what other interesting
stuff he succeeds in creating to remain in news during his days of campaigning
in the city the spirit, the flow of which is entirely different from the type
of politics Kejriwal has been doing since December 8, 2013 when his Aam Aadmi
Party delivered an unexpected performance in the Delhi assembly polls.
Arvind Kejriwal began his
initiation in the Temple Town with its temples, a move that every worn-out class
of politician (Kejriwal is fighting against, to cleanse the System free of
them) aspiring to eke out a political career from Varanasi does.
He took a dip in the Ganga . He visited the temples of Kashi Vishwanath and
Kaal Bhairav to have blessings. So, he tried to address the Hindu sentiments in
the religious capital of Hinduism.
Now, the secularist in him needed
to visit a Muslim religious place to balance the score as Muslims account for
almost 17 percent of the vote share. But he fell short of planning here. He
didn’t do it. (It tells he is not a fully worn-out politician yet).
The electoral Karma of Kejriwal then
took him to the Benia
Bagh Park
Being a Muslim locality, a
congested narrow stretch of road and a small park should have made the park
ideal choice for Kejriwal who would be banking on the Muslim votes to challenge
Narendra Modi from the city to start his show.
Kejriwal led a road show to the
park to gather the required crowd for the voice vote referendum on his
candidature from Varanasi .
The road show on the narrow
stretch of road from Lahurabir to Benia Bagh had more policemen than the public
as the participants. And like the typical trademark Kejriwal events, eggs and
ink were thrown on Kejriwal and his cavalcade (no other politician attracts
perpetrators of these acts this much!).
It seems the failure to visit a
Muslim religious place hit Kejriwal’s plan. His supporters had claimed to have
a crowd of one lakh. The permission taken was for 20,000. The crowd in the park
was sparse and remained thin till end when he formally announced to contest
from Varanasi .
There are contradicting claims on
the strength of the crowd but the consensus reads it about 6,000-8,000. But
even if it was 25,000-30,000, that also was nowhere near to the claims. It was
when much of the crowd was imported as reported.
The effect of all this was
visible.
Kejriwal's words and body
language, at the end of his first day in Varanasi ,
said he had already conceded defeat - on his very first day in Varanasi - the thin crowd
even in a Muslim locality - it’s written on the wall for him!! No tweets on the
grand success of his rally last evening, was most unlikely of him.
But how can he accept it. That
would kill the spirit of his party at a time when the election campaigning is
entering its most decisive phase. He had to charge it up again to remain vocal,
to claim many more claims.
To remain in news – yes, so after
a dull first day - on the 2nd day of his stay there, a stay that
should be more like a sojourn or a spiritual and religious stopover, for his itinerary
so far, he came with his brilliant assessment today, much like his voice vote
referendum in the partially filled Benia Bagh park yesterday when he said
Narendra Modi was losing in Varanasi and the BJP’s prime-ministerial candidate
should concentrate on Vadodara, his second seat.
And so, we had his tweets today, questioning
and claiming, unlike the last evening.
