Cheering supporters waving saffron flags lined the streets of one of India’s holiest cities on Monday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived to rally votes from the Hindu faithful.
India is in the middle of a six-week election widely expected to deliver Modi a third term, in large part due to his cultivated image as an aggressive champion of the country’s majority faith.
That includes Varanasi, the spiritual capital of the Hindu faith, where devotees from around India come to cremate deceased loved ones by the Ganges river.
“Modi has reinvigorated the Hindus like never before. He is the custodian of our faith and that is why I love him,” said bank manager Ritesh Kumar.
Like tens of thousands of others, Kumar waited for hours in sweltering early summer temperatures to catch a glance of the leader.
“Hindus are thriving today because of Modi,” the 47-year-old told AFP. “Thanks to Modi, I feel proud to call myself a Hindu.”
Modi has represented Varanasi since the election that swept him to power a decade ago, and the immense crowd that gathered to greet him was a testament to his enduring popularity there.
As with his prior appearances there on the campaign trail, tens of thousands of supporters thronged the roadside.
Many waved flags bearing the lotus emblem of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as Modi was driven past atop a flatbed truck, flanked by unsmiling bodyguards.
The flags, the truck, the balloons lining the route, the marigold flowers cast in Modi’s direction and the premier’s garments were all coloured saffron, the traditional colour of the Hindu faith.
Folk troupes along the route performed traditional dance routines to nationalistic songs blared from loudspeakers as the convoy moved by.
– ‘Villains and terrorists’ –
More than 968 million people are eligible to vote in India’s election, which is conducted over six weeks to ease the immense logistical burden of staging the democratic exercise in the world’s most populous country.
Modi arrived in Varanasi to formally register his nomination for re-election on Tuesday morning, with the city to vote on June 1.
“I am confident that Modi will become the prime minister again because no one else deserves the position. He has made India shine on the world stage,” homemaker Seema Arya, 35, told AFP.
The premier’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is widely expected to win the election.
But since the vote began last month, Modi has made a number of strident comments against India’s 200-million-plus Muslim minority in an apparent effort to galvanise support.
He has used public speeches to refer to Muslims as “infiltrators” and “those who have more children”, prompting condemnation from opposition politicians.
Modi has also accused Congress, the main party in a broad opposition alliance competing against him, of planning to reallocate the nation’s wealth to Muslim households.
The ascent of Modi’s Hindu-nationalist politics despite India’s officially secular constitution has made the country’s Muslims increasingly anxious.
“We are being painted as villains and terrorists,” shopkeeper Faiyaaz Ali, 69, told AFP.
“Islamophobia has reached new levels in the country under Modi. But no one seems to care, we have been left to fend for ourselves.”
