PM Narendra Modi at a meeting on rooftop solar scheme
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, February 22: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will spend 18 hours in Varanasi, beginning today. His visit to Varanasi was preceded by a late evening flurry of decisions by the Union Cabinet. Modi will address two rallies in Varanasi.
Modi has been seen in the crucial Uttar Pradesh multiple times. His presence in events in the Hindi heartland appears to lend weight to the poll narrative of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the trinity of Ayodhya-Kashi-Mathura.
Seeking to further bloat the political Hindutva with aims to subsume the caste identity political aspirations, Modi is seen blessing the hardliners within the saffron stable to pump up the claims on Gyanvapi and Mathura. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has already offered prayers at Gyanvapi.
The Cabinet meeting presided over by the prime minister took a slew of decisions to send out the message that the government is now dusting off the last traces of policy planning. The foreign direct investment (FDI) policy amendment was approved for the space sector which had previously been opened for the private players. This is aimed to accelerate the cooperation with the friendly countries, including the US with which the space launch vehicle tie-ups with exchange of engines and others would be crucial. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is also aiming break into the next stage of excellence after the successful Chandrayan-II mission while the first manned space mission, Gaganyan, is in the offing.
The Cabinet meeting also raised the support price for sugarcanes to send out the message to the farmers in western Uttar Pradesh to stay away from the restive Punjab-based farmers. The Modi government is seemingly concerned at the belligerence of the Punjab-based farmers. The Shambhu border scenes seem straight out of an action-packed film.
Drones with loud sound bombarded tear gases. The agitating farmers boasted of safety gears and gadgets. The JCB machines and bunkers have added new dimensions to the agitation by farmers. The Modi government may be wary of the fact that Shambhu border can turn into a thriller to distract the people from the persona of the prime minister at a time when the BJP seeks votes in the name of Hindu revivalism.
Signals suggest that the Election Commission may be unveiling poll dates in the next few days or early next month. Modi will be launching the usual carpet bombing of the BJP rallies with his 18-hour stay in Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of the prime minister. The Congress also appears to have smelt the wind blowing in the national capital. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi has rushed back to New Delhi to take the hard look at the immediate challenge of the Lok Sabha elections.
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