Preparations for Narendra Modi’s October 19 rally are in full swing in Kanpur, with masks, T-shirts and kurtas featuring the BJP’s prime minister hopeful replacing traditional publicity materials, so much so that even the party’s name is missing from some of the posters.
Sweets inscribed with ‘NaMo’ are being distributed free in this industrial city where Modi will kick-start the BJP’s Lok Sabha election campaign in Uttar Pradesh.
Last week, a special camp was organised in Kanpur to teach party workers how to wear Modi masks and flaunt Modi apparels in the rally. More than 8,000 autos have been pressed into service by the party to manage the crowds and hundreds of buses hired to ferry workers from a dozen adjoining districts. Also, Modi’s PR machinery is active on social media trying to lure youths to the rally.
The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate will land in Lucknow around noon and fly to Kanpur on a chopper on Saturday. BJP president Rajnath Singh and former Chief Minister Kalyan Singh will also address the rally which has been mired in controversy.
Kanpur, which has a relatively high Muslim population, has been represented in the Lok Sabha by the Congress’ Shri Prakash Jaiswal for the last three terms. The city has witnessed several communal riots since Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992 by Hindutva activists. It is the resultant communal divide in the city that is expected to ensure a large audience for Modi. Some RSS workers and party veterans are peeved not only about the way the BJP is being “hijacked by market forces”, but also about the manner it is welcoming criminals and tainted leaders deserted by other parties.
Speaking to Express, a senior BJP leader singled out Sonu Singh, a history-sheeter and former BSP MLA who recently joined the saffron party, to hammer home his grouse. The party’s old guard also feels that the “sycophancy” around Modi doesn’t augur well for the BJP.
BJP state chief Laxmikant Bajpai even questioned the contribution of party veterans A B Vajpayee and L K Advani who have long been dumped by the state leaders.Also, some state leaders have an old axe to grind against the Gujarat Chief Minister. They said they felt let down when Modi refused to campaign for party candidates for the 2012 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.