Faced with a simmering anger in Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest state, numerically and politically the most significant, after de-monetization has crushed the local ‘mandis’ (trading centres and markets), destroyed agriculture and paralysed the small scale self employed, the BJP and RSS are shopping for a new diversion.
The BJP is set to take out ‘Kamal Mela’ in rural areas of UP, under which, party workers — in coordination with event management experts — will set up stalls to make people aware of the schemes and achievements of the Modi government. The party would also collect feedback from the visitors.
The ‘Kamal Mela’ where it will explain its ‘schemes’ and ‘feats’ to a frustrated and angry populace.
Starting December 16, the party has identified 20 districts where the fair will be organised between December 16 to January 27 — the first phase. These are the districts where BJP has always fared poorly when it came to contesting Assembly polls against SP and BSP candidates. It is unlikely they will do much better now, given the disastrous impacts of de-monetization but that is not to say they are not trying!
The fair will be held in each district for three days. While it will be organised from December 16 to December 18 in Rampur, Hathras and Kaushambi districts, the same will later be held in Bijnor, Lalitpur, Mirzapur, Bulandshahr, Jalaun, Sonbhadra, Badaun, Auraiya, Chandauli, Pilibhit, Barabanki, Azamgarh, Lakhimpur Kheri, Ambedkar Nagar, Sant Kabir Nagar, Unnao and Sidharth Nagar. One such fair has already been held in Banda last month on a pilot basis. Party leaders associated claimed that around 40,000 visitors had turned up at the three-day Kamal Mela in Banda on November 18, 19 and 20.
Another zone — ‘UP Ke Mann Ki Baat’ — will have a banner on which visitors could write about their “expectations” from the BJP, the Centre and the state governments. A stall of ‘Chai Pe Charcha’ zone will showcase NDA government’s schemes and speeches of the Prime Minister in the form of tabloids. Visitors could read the same while having tea free of cost.
Magicians will display tricks to entertain the gathering while appealing to vote for ‘kamal’ — BJP’s symbol. Puppet shows would also do the same. “There will be a ‘fun zone’, with swings and activities like ring toss, fortune wheel and target shooting. The winners of ring toss will get coffee mugs and other gifts with photographs of the PM and BJP’s symbol. Participation in these activities will be free for visitors. They will only have to pay for the food,” said the leader.
In the zone ‘Selfie with Modi’, BJP workers will click photographs of visitors with the PM’s cut out. The visitors would be given a printed copy of the photograph free of cost.
Weeks ago, still suffering from a delusion over the de-monetization decision, Central Ministers had been despatched to sell ‘jobs’, the ‘Loan Melas’ a la Gujarat! With informal sector workers from Bihar and UP returning to villages after massive job losses caused by de-monetization, the party hype has shifted from ‘rozgar’ to something more illusionary, the so-called successes of the Modi regime.
Will it work?
The next few weeks will tell. recent meetings of the party’s star showman, Narendra Modi have been lacklustre, with thinning and unenthusiastic crowds.
The Gujarat Loan Mela Hype: Instead of 65,000 beneficiaries, the number of jobs provided based on information given by the authorities in 23 districts, totals only to 51,587. Out of that 11,172 are apprentices (30.4%). i.e. the actual figure is 40,415 and not even 51,587. But, the names of only 32,372 were provided to activist-writers Rohit Prajapati and Trupti Shah.