Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath holding election rallies for the BJP near Shaheen Bagh, the epicentre of women-led sit-ins against the Citizenship Amendment Act, could well be one of the biggest events in the last and final lap of the super-charged poll campaigning in the Delhi Assembly election.
His office informed that the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh will be in Delhi for four days (from 1-4 February) and address at least 12 rallies, adding that choice of venues for the public meetings has been left to the Delhi BJP. It is learnt that Yogi would surely be holding a rally in the Okhla Assembly constituency (Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Nagar are part of it). However, the exact location as to how far or close it would be from the Shaheen Bagh is still being worked out. No decision has been taken on the date for Adityanath’s rally near Shaheen Bagh either.
File image of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Reuters
At the outset, it can be said that in normal circumstances Adityanath’s visit to the National Capital and his campaign for BJP candidates wouldn’t have evoked so much interest and hype. The Uttar Pradesh chief minister has for long been a star campaigner of the saffron party and has campaigned extensively in various state elections. Other senior BJP leaders including union ministers, and current and former chief ministers have been called for campaigning as well, but it seems like Adityanath is in great demand as a campaigner among the party workers.
The Uttar Pradesh chief minister’s stand against anti CAA protestors in Uttar Pradesh have been regularly in news and have generated fierce debate. His campaign rallies, therefore, would be closely watched by not just the BJP supporters and sympathisers but the rival parties as well. The BJP wouldn’t mind the party’s detractors and political rivals’ counter charge on Adityanath and his speeches.
Adityanath’s campaign rally comes at a time when the Shaheen Bagh protests, the voices of “Azadi” and controversial remarks have become a major talking point, and in the aftermath of the firing at an anti-CAA protester during a rally near Jamia.
The first three issues are said to be finding traction among sections of people in Delhi and are said to have favourably placed the BJP in this election and put Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party on the backfoot. Led by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP leaders of varied seniority, as well as party workers, have been aggressively pitching against the Shaheen Bagh protesters. Adityanath’s arrival, it is believed, would give further fillip to the narrative which the BJP leadership has been trying to build for a fortnight.
The secularist-liberalists, as well as the Muslim anti-CAA protesters and their sympathisers, have been talking eloquently of the “Shaheen Bagh protests” and how it should become a template for nationwide protests against the Modi government. They are also buoyed by the below-par performance of the BJP in Haryana and Maharashtra elections and the saffron party’s most-recent defeat in the Jharkhand Assembly election.
It goes without saying that the saffron-clad Uttar Pradesh chief minister personifies Hindutva, and his presence in the Shaheen Bagh or Jamia Nagar area would generate fierce passion from either side. He would be expected to provide a counter-narrative to Shaheen Bagh.
At several places, BJP leaders are asking why the Delhi government should not follow the Uttar Pradesh government in seeking recovery from the protestors for damaged public property.
Amit Shah recently said that “on polling day people should press the EVM button with such force that its current is felt in Shaheen Bagh”. Adityanath’s physical presence in a rally in the close vicinity of Shaheen Bagh or Jamia Nagar is a well thought out move to potentially generate that current on polling day. A fierce counter-attack to him from anti-CAA protestors and its backers would only help BJP in mobilising the intended opinion.