Modi’s Gaurav Yatra: Plying safe

At the dharamshala of the Bhathiji Maharaj temple, from where Modi will kick off his yatra on September 3, police have set up a 24-hour control room.

And from 6 am on September 1 to 6 pm on September 3, a congregation of more than five people at the temple premises will be banned. There are 40 policemen around the area, reinforced by a company (120 troops) of the State Reserve Police.

But the Bhathi Sena is raring for a confrontation.

GPCC president Shankersinh Vaghela has chosen to hoist the traditional 52-yard dhvaj in Bhathiji Maharaj’s honour the day the yatra’s inaugurated. Said Jagdish Thakore, a leader of the Thakore community to which the Maharaj belongs, ‘‘September 2 onwards we will perform bhajans at the temple. We had vowed to felicitate Vaghela if he was made GPCC president.”

The BJP is playing safe. The main function for the yatra has been organised about one and a half kilometres from the temple. The one lakh people the party hopes to gather will be told to wait there, while Modi, escorted by guards, goes to the temple.

The byroad from the highway to the village has resurfaced. The walls are covered by the BJP, including some posters of the burning S-6 carriage of the Sabarmati Express, some proclaiming a BJP return to power: ‘Aapnu kaun? Bhajapa! (Who’s for us? BJP)’, some others the water flowing in the Narmada canal.

Locals seem nonplussed.

Shopkeepers say their lookout is their business: if people turn up on yatra day, they will visit the temple too, and business will be good. So are the temple trustees and employees. Said Abhisingh Nanbhai, an office-bearer of the trust: ‘‘We do not have any role to play. Anybody is free to hoist a flag, and there is no need for any permission from the temple authorities.’’