Modi has boldly ventured to redevelop Varanasi’s messy, filthy inner city. It’s a restoration project that can delight his Hindu constituency

Writings on the Wall is a metaphor that grew out of my travels, mostly through the poll-bound regions of India and the neighbourhood over the past 15 years. Because, even more than its big festivals, the subcontinent comes to life during its elections. And what’s on people’s minds, their aspirations, joys, concerns and fears, you can pretty much understand by reading these writings on the wall. These can be graffiti, advertising, skylines, fences, or even rubble.

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So, just the redevelopment of the area, clearing of the 300 metres to the riverfront for an unhindered view of the temple from the ghats and vice-versa doesn’t add to the threat. Some local Muslims leaders filed a petition in the Supreme Court expressing these apprehensions on behalf of Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, but it was rejected.

The greater opposition, in fact, comes from Varanasi’s Hindu conservatives. Walk down the narrow lane connecting the temple precinct’s Neelkanth gate to the holiest Manikarnika Ghat, where cremations take place, and we run into well-known local writer and journalist/intellectual, Trilochan Prasad. He’s furious. Who can dare to change what was never destined to change? They have destroyed our heritage, everything that was sacred, hundreds of crores have been wasted, a way of life has been destroyed and more.

Like him or not, Modi is a risk-taker. This, the redevelopment of a mere 4.6 hectares, involving the demolition of 296 buildings, is among the greatest risks he has taken in his constituency. Because this means annoying not just the liberal, but the most conservative residents of the Brahmin heartland, which takes pride in being eternal and unchanging. Almost 90 per cent of those shifted are Brahmins. Like its priests, Varanasi also must have the highest per capita population of political pundits. And many would tell you, with the greatest conviction, that this Modi-Yogi “misadventure” will cost them anything between 60,000-75,000 votes.

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The demolition work is mostly over. 

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