Varanasi also known as Banaras or Kashi is a city on the banks of the Ganga. It is also known as the favourite city of the Hindu idol Lord Shiva as it has been mentioned in the Rigveda that this city at older times was known as Kashi or "Shiv ki Nagri".
Varanasi is often referred to as "the city of temples", "the holy city of India", "the religious capital of India", "the city of shiva", and "the city of learning". The City has been named after Varuna and Assi rivers.
Varanasi — a melting pot of Hindus and Muslims who have lived side by side for years — is the centre of attention today.
In the coming weeks, it will be the most watched city in the country. It is all set to be one of the most hotly contested Lok Sabha seat after BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, 63-year-old Narendra Modi, decided to contest election from the holy city. And now, Modi faces a new challenge in form of the indefatigable Arvind Kejriwal. The Aam Aadmi Party convener has already raised the pitch by relentlessly attacking the ‘Modi model’.
Congress is still undecided about putting up a candidate in Varanasi.
Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency has five assembly segments of which three are urban- Varanasi North, Varanasi South and Varanasi Cantonment- while the other two Sevapuri and Rohaniya are rural. It is currently represented by senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi in Parliament.
A new political era
Varanasi today becomes a definition for a different political battle. The recent Delhi election was about defeating a decadent Congress. Varanasi is about inventing and invoking a new era in politics.
Why Modi decided to contest from Varanasi when he was sure to get elected from Gujarat? Perhaps, he thought that having a foothold in UP, may help the BJP to win more seats from the most populous state of the union. Also his run for election in the holy city may galvanize support among Hindus. It will brush up his Hindu credentials and also focus his campaign on a key swing area.
Mr. Arvind Kejriwal is suggesting the battle is different, that he and even Mr. Modi are irrelevant. The choice and challenge before India as a civilisation, a nation, a democracy and a community is to decide what kind of a decent society we want to be.
In fact, Kejriwal is presenting himself as a comic clown against Mr. Modi as king and asking what Mr. Vajpayee asked of Mr. Modi — what is Rajdharma? Do the emperor’s new clothes, which he calls development, tell us something about the middle class? Who then talks of the marginal? Is power always frozen at the top or can it melt and coat an entire system? In asking these questions, Mr. Kejriwal is inviting India to the new possibilities of democracy.
Mr. Kejriwal’s trip is like a pilgrimage. Mr. Modi’s organisation is like an army that is camping.
Mr. Kejriwal’s attempts in terms of political scale would be modest. His message is like a conversation, homely, humble, and even deprecating. Mr. Modi has the persona of a loudspeaker, amplifying his own repetitions.
Mr. Kejriwal has place for the small and marginal, for the gossip of the nukkad. He is a listener. Mr. Modi’s persona comes out better as a Dictaphone.
But the contrasting styles are a signal to the contrasting messages of the two opponents. Mr. Kejriwal is content to be the quiet catalyst that changes not just electoral democracy but the drama of citizenship.
Mr. Kejriwal is leveraging Varanasi to challenge the Gujarat that Mr. Modi presents. It is a battle of texts, discourses, messages which will be deciphered again and again. In this lies the value and drama of Indian Democracy.
Leaders represented Varanasi in the Lok Sabha:
A galaxy of leaders had represented Varanasi in the Lok Sabha. Besides, Lal Bahadur Shastri, who succeeded Jawaharlal Nehru as India’s second Prime Minister, Dr. Sampurnand, named philosopher-king, an astrologer, who UP’s Chief Minister, hailed from the holy city.
The freedom fighter, Pt. Kamlapati Tripathi, once UP’s Chief Minister and later Railway Minister in Indira Gandhi cabinet also belonged to Varanasi. Many BJP leaders too were elected from the ancient city, latest of the BJP leader elected from Varanasi was Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, who was unwilling to be shifted Kanpur to make way for Narendra Modi, but eventually fell in line.
The holy city is facing the brunt of years of neglect:
The historic city by the sacred Ganga is home to more than a million and draws pilgrims from across the world to its ghats and is yet in such a grim condition.
The city has a BJP mayor, MLA and MP, but still the new sewer system built recently is in a bad shape.
What is even worse is that the Manikarnika Ghat, where the last rites are performed, not only lacks modern infrastructure but the waste from the Ghat also flows into the river.
A little down the river, bloated human bodies as well bodies of animals are seen floating which no one has come to claim or remove. Also seen are the drains that empty the waste of the city into the river.
The roads in Varanasi are both bad and congested, which is poorly planned construction work at many places which not only shrinks the available space but also increases the risk of accidents.
"It is the carelessness and emotionless governance and they are not taking Varanasi in right earnest.
They are not considering the vast height of Varanasi in international map. It will be good if the politicians take care of it. It will bring in more fame for the city.
