Hear us out, candidates to tell PM Modi

LUCKNOW: If there is a stage for anyone to earn 15 minutes of fame this political season, it is Varanasi.

Whether it is to genuinely highlight a neglected issue or to just prove a point, there are several aspiring contestants from the Prime Minister’s constituency which they are sure will grab eyeballs like no other. Most of them make no bones about saying that wining the election is not their objective.

Among the first contenders against Modi is Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan, the president of the Bhim Army, a five-year-old

Dalit

organisation. Azad, who staged a road show in Varanasi on March 30 and declared that “the countdown to Modi’s defeat has begun”, attracts youths from the Dalit sections because of his fiery speeches.

The second unlikely opponent to Modi is former constable in the Border Security Force (BSF) Tej Bahadur Yadav, who made headlines after he uploaded a video last year criticising the allegedly sub-standard food served to BSF jawans.

In what appears to be an honest answer to justify his decision, he said, “It’s only about the high-profile constituency that Varanasi is. I can use it as a platform to highlight concerns of troopers. I may not win, but I only want to send out a message.” Yadav, who was dismissed from service after his allegations were declared false by a court of inquiry, plans to contest as an independent. Also willing to challenge Modi is a motley group of farmers from Tamil Nadu who had staged a demonstration in Delhi in 2017 to highlight their demands such as profitable prices for farm produce. The group, comprising 111 farmers, is led by P Ayyakannu.

The latest contender against Modi is again a group from down south. Two victims of fluorosis from Nalgonda (Telangana) and Prakasam (Andhra Pradesh), led by two activists, Vadde Srinivas and Jalagam Sudheer, are planning to join the fray.

4th candidate in fray in Varanasi is a BHU professor
Ayyakannu has said that if their demand is included in the BJP manifesto, they will drop their decision to contest against Modi.

The fourth interesting candidate is a BHU professor and the mahant of Sankat Mochan temple in Varanasi. Vishambhar Nath Mishra, known for spearheading a prolonged struggle to clean the Ganga, has also said he will contest against Modi from Varanasi. While local reports said he might contest on a Congress party ticket, nothing has been officially confirmed.

Fluoride contamination of groundwater is a serious issue in the two states and the objective is to highlight it at a place where it will be heard, said Sudheer. The names of the victims are yet to be finalised.

“The ailment affects physical movement. So, without making it difficult for them, we will take only those who can travel to Varanasi to file the nominations,” added Sudheer.

“Fluorosis has crippled the lives of people in Nalgonda. While the Telangana government has allocated eight acres for setting up a Regional Fluoride Mitigation Centre in Nalgonda, the Centre did not release the promised Rs 100 crore,” Sudheer told TOI.

Varanasi will go to polls on May 19. The nominations begin on April 22.

Till then, more such candidatures may come up with more issues that need to be heard.

The Congress party and the SP-BSP combine are also expected to declare candidates soon. Those names, too, will be well-thought ones.

In 2014, when PM Modi had decided on Varanasi as his second constituency after Vadodara, Aam Aadmi Party chief and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had contested against him and lost by more than 3 lakh votes.


(With inputs from Rohan Dua and Sushil Rao)