Latest battleground in Gujarat is a village fair

And once again Vaghela is trying to beat Modi at his game: at the Congress-managed fair, mahants will hoist a 52-yard dhwaj in honour of Lord Shiva, Modi will come to offer prayers.

Says District Panchayat president Kanubha Parmar: ‘‘Let Modi come, we have not invited him. He will be like all those who come to enjoy the fair. Our supporters will show him black flags and ask him to go.’’

District Collector D J Dhariya claims that Parmar is ‘‘misleading the masses,’’ since Modi has been invited at the behest of the village.

As for the BJP’s spokesperson in Saurashtra, Rajendra Dhruv, who is also the director of Gujarat Tourism and plays a key role in promoting the fair, there’s no debate: ‘‘We will invite Modi to give away prizes for competitions organised by the Tourism Department.’’

Except for the Tourism Department, few are rolling out the red carpet at the village. ‘‘Dhariya has no right to invite anyone since we are the hosts,’’ says Parmar. ‘‘If any untoward incident takes place, Dhariya will be responsible.’’

Like Vaghela’s several functions, this one, too, has prayers and rituals as a key component. The fair, scheduled to begin on September 9, will feature a puja at a Shiv temple by the Maharaja of Lakhtar state Balbhadrasinh Jhala. The next day, Mahant Umaba Amrabha of Paliyad and other Mahants will hoist the 52-yard dhwaj.

When contacted, Vaghela declined to comment other than saying: ‘‘Let me see the programme and I will then decide.’’

BJP state chief Rajendrasinh Rana accused the Congress of wanting to disrupt peace. ‘‘If the Congress is out to create a disturbance, what can Modi and BJP do? We called off our September 3 Gaurav Yatra keeping in mind the security scenario. Now again, they’re readying for a confrontation in Tarnetar. But we will go ahead with our programme this time.’’

Meanwhile, in Phagvel today, Vaghela, who had emphasised that his function was a non-political one, lost no time in converting it into a political one. After blasting the Modi Government for its inefficiency and the BJP for ‘‘its attempts to create communal strife,’’ Vaghela doled out election promises.

If voted to power, he said, the Congress would increase widows’ pension amount to Rs 900 a month from the present Rs 500.

Lambasting the BJP for its claims of being protector of cow and its progeny, he said it was under the BJP that a scheme for setting up 60,000 abattoirs was being finalised.

‘‘Vote for us and we will see that not a single slaughter house comes up,’’ he told followers of Bhathiji Maharaj who, according to legend laid down his life to protect cows.