Place: Mathura – the birth place of Lord Krishna.
Occasion: Celebration of birth anniversary of Sant Mira bai – a devotee of Lord Krishna
Date: Two days before election in Rajasthan, where Sant Mira Bai was born and is being revered
Picture this. Not many can correlate the birth anniversary celebration of Sant Mira Bai with assembly elections in Rajasthan. But BJP does it exceedingly well mixing religious sentiments with poll fervour.
Sant Mira Bai, who belonged to Mewar, is considered one of the greatest devotees of Lord Krishna. She has great following in Rajasthan, especially Mewar, where she got married to the crown prince Bhoj Raj.
This is for the first time, the birth anniversary of Mira Bai is being celebrated at such a grand scale. The prime minister Narendra Modi, who is the face of BJP poll campaign in Rajasthan, will be attending the celebrations along with chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath. A coin and stamp in the memory of Mira Bai will be unveiled in the programme.
Timing and political significance
Everything looks apolitical and religious. But when we go in finer print, the celebration seems to have a big political impact in polarisation of votes.
Narendra Modi will be the first ever prime minister to visit Krishna janmbhoomi Mathura to celebrate a birth anniversary of a Rajasthani Sant.
By this BJP will strike twice. The maiden visit of Modi in Krishna janmbhhomi Mathura will have influence of at least 42 seats in eastern Rajasthan which fall under Braj, which has lord Krishna as deity.
Then the celebration of a ‘Mewari Sant Mira Bai' will definitely influence the voters on atleast 40 seats in Mewar and Nagaur belt.
“On the last day of campaigning, PM has played a masterstroke through this celebration. This will have more impact than even door-door personalised survey,” said Mahant Surendra Swami, a devotee of Lord Krishna.
Ram Kumar Kaushik is a seasoned journalist with over 25 years of experience across mediums. The architect of this news website, he is also a consultant with several media groups. He was formerly the group managing editor of ITV Network (NewsX, India News and The Sunday Guardian) and its digital products.
