Three Months On, How Is Varanasi Explaining The 4 June Result To Itself?

On the morning of 4 June, 2024, the whole nation was surprised to see Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi trailing in Varanasi. Eventually, he won by the end of the day, but not without question marks on his legacy in the city and the parliamentary constituency.

This was the situation when Varanasi visibly and ubiquitously changed for the better between 2014 and present day.

However, despite executing unprecedented developmental works, some tactical mistakes, ignorance, and unwillingness to counter Opposition narratives resulted in Varanasi throwing an embarrassment for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and decreasing Modi's victory margin significantly.

A key aspect of the narrative against the BJP in Varanasi centres around the supposed dominance of Gujarati companies and contractors in local projects. The buzz was alive in the city till at least the last week of August, which is when Swarajya was on the ground in Varanasi.

The feedback this writer received confirmed what a previous report on this portal said as well: there appears to be a conscious attempt to embed this perception in the minds of the public.

Views of Congress candidate Ajay Rai on the issue seem to have circulated across the constituency. He has been criticizing the BJP on this issue for a considerable period.

“Everything is with Gujarati companies. Proper Uttar Pradesh-based units are only getting petty and leftover works. Modi ate everything,” said Mohammad Irfan, a businessman.

The phrase—‘petty works’ which Irfan referred to was a verbatim reproduction of Rai’s words—indicating how this message had been promulgated.

Half a kilometre away from him was Rajkumar Yadav, waiting for his next Ola bike booking. Yadav claims he used to be a part of one of the patrolling groups of the community during communal tensions in pre-Modi Varanasi.

“They used to roam around the city having swords in hand. After waiting for a while, we Yadavs used to come out with our long sticks, and then they retreated,” recalls Yadav.

On the reduced victory margin of PM Modi, he is 100 percent certain that it is a dereliction of responsibility by voters. Yadav says that he himself did not want to go out on election day.

Sanjay Saxena, another man working in the transport industry, claims that he knew at least a dozen people who were complacent about Modi’s victory, so they did not go out to vote. According to him, Kashi (another name for Varanasi) has transformed in a fairly inclusive way, so there was no doubt in our minds.

“You go to the village and see road connectivity, water, electricity. Everything has drastically improved. Why would we expect that Modiji would lose? We never even thought about it,” said Sanjay Saxena, who drives to make a living.

“A lot of people were so certain that Modiji would be coming back that they did not even think of going out and voting,” he added.

The situation was not much different near the ghats—the biggest beneficiaries of the modernization drive in Varanasi. June 1, 2024 (voting day) was a normal day for a vast section of people earning their livelihood through the temples there.

A staff member at the bookstore near Dashashwamedh Ghat said that it was an extraordinary day in the sense that many went into holiday mode.

“Due to the election, the administration was tight on hotels and Dharamshalas. It led to fewer tourists and henceforth less load on them (people). So they chose to sleep, having second-guessed the outcome of the election in Modi’s favour,” he added.

But the results surprised everyone. Many claimed it became a matter of shame for them—especially in the wake of BJP losing from Faizabad six months after the Pran Pratistha of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

On Pran Pratistha beverages and some delicacies that Varanasi is famous for were free for virtually everyone, regardless of whether the seller was a small or large shop owner. “Devotees of Shri Ram can’t vote out someone who played such a significant role in reestablishing Prabhu’s legacy,” said Usha Devi, who sells small snacks near Andhrapul.

Modi's reduced margin should also be a matter of introspection for BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

The alleged lack of coordination between the party and its ideological parent impacted Varanasi results too. Coordination between both was for namesake, and swayamsevaks are said to have showed up only when some extraordinary situation like PM Modi’s rally or roadshow in the constituency occurred.

Modi’s massive roadshow on 13 May 2024 drew thousands in crowds, and key Sangh functionaries in Varanasi were observed to be quite active in galvanizing them in PM Modi’s support. However, it was still more than two weeks before the poll—good enough to shift a bit of momentum in the last few days.

“After being actively present in the rally, almost all key Sangh people went to Nagpur, which definitely impacted the voting pattern. The way RSS campaigns is something different altogether, which was missing this time,” said Veena Singh, a book (mostly religious) shop owner who is an astute observer of both religious and political affairs in Varanasi.

The INDI Alliance on its part is said to have identified even slightly dissatisfied voters and highlighted the 'wrongs' Modi and his party were doing in Varanasi to them.

They started by criticising the revival of religious spaces and infrastructure development. The temporary inconveniences were exaggerated to the point where even the benefits of compensation became a distant memory. Accusations of "killing the spirit of Kashi" were made and apparently, proved effective.

“Varanasi is the city of streets, and that is how it has always been. Widening of roads to adjust tourists will kill its spirit,” said Rajkumar, a pan seller in one of the streets close to Godowlia.

By the middle of the election, the narrative around changing the constitution and ending the reservation system had further polarised the contest. More specifically, WhatsApp groups and individual chats of Varanasi were also not immune from the fake video in which Amit Shah was shown proclaiming reservation.

“My friends were sending me the video despite knowing that I am a Modi supporter. You can assess its impact on the poor here,” said Anand Shankar, a student.

Scheduling of the election also helped the INDI Alliance in building a momentum. The election in Varanasi was held in the seventh and last phase, by which time it was able to juxtapose local discomfort with the larger narrative of BJP planning to 'abolish' the constitution.

Additionally, Ajay Rai tried to turn the election into a local vs. outsider contest. Rai hails from Varanasi and is also the president of Uttar Pradesh Congress unit.

Apart from attacking PM Modi, he also focused on caste arithmetic and targeted Bhumihar voters—his own community. One of the persons close to his family said that Rai had summoned every possible relative for his campaign.

Rai leveraged his Bhumihar identity to appeal to his own community, while also securing Yadav votes through the support of the Samajwadi Party and its leader, Akhilesh Yadav.

But despite all of this, Rai still fell short by around 1.5 lakh votes. A possible reason is that despite all the narrative, the positives of Modi's tenure are clear and apparent in Varanasi.

As tourists’ numbers increased, so did the demand for local products. For instance, a lassi, which was sold for as low as Rs 10-20 before 2014, now costs well over Rs 50. Not only that, footfall has also increased sharply.

This applies not only to major roads facilitating spiritual journeys but also to narrow street shops. Ramlal Yadav, known for his delicious milk halwa in Govindpura, notes that the streets are now bustling with people exploring new tastes.

A few kilometers away is Beniya Bagh market, one of the most congested and, some might say, poorly maintained markets. Manoj Sahu runs a litti chokha shop in the heart of the market. Sahu says that his standard of living has improved significantly over the past decade.

“When my son was born, I worried about how to fund his education. Now, not only can I afford his education, but I also take him to cricket coaching,” said Sahu.

His son, Priyam Sahu, is currently enrolled in junior-level cricket training, costing Rs 3,000 per month, plus a one-time expense of Rs 36,000 for equipment and food according to his dietary needs.

Sahu explains the improvements in law and order in Varanasi: “In the past, I wouldn’t have sent him out for practice at 4 AM. Now, he rides his bicycle to practice and returns safely by 10 AM.”

Surprisingly, these positive changes were not stressed on by party workers on the ground during the Lok Sabha campaign.

Lakhan Sahani, a 34-year-old man who operates boats around Ganga ghats, also echoes the sentiment. Sahani has seen days when a daily wage of Rs 50 was tough to get. Now, even in the off-season, he earns Rs 700-Rs 1,000 per day.

“Those are people from different cities who go to earn money outside. Varanasi now provides us ample opportunity to feed our own family,” asserts Lakhan.

This writer then quizzed him if the voters of Varanasi regretted embarrassing Modi by reducing his margin of victory. Lakhan responded that many of them do regret being swayed by the INDI Alliance's campaign. Of course, the feeling of regret is completely rejected by others.

Nearly three months after results day, Varanasi still seems like a political field where sentiments are in a state of flux. Alternatively, perhaps the major sentiment in the city is of gratitude for what Modi has done in the past but not being too enthusiastic about him for the future.

Maybe Varanasi is asking Indian commentators and reporters to ditch the stereotype and analyse the politics of the city afresh.