Will these 'outsiders' swing it for BJP?

It has become very difficult for me (an outsider) to find my way around in Varanasi as whosoever I ask for directions has a patent reply: "Main bahar ka hu" (I am an outsider). With poll fever at its peak the temple city is flooded with visitors. Hotels are choc-o-bloc, there is no place to sit even at roadside dhabas and tea shops around Varanasi.

Traffic has come to a virtual standstill. Even the narrow lanes and bylanes of Varanasi are packed with vehicles. Travelling 5 kilometre takes atleast an hour.

But "Who are they?" Interestingly I bumped into few of the faces that I see in nearby dhabas and teastalls when the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's convoy arrived from Mehmoorgunj on Sunday. Either they were riding bikes with a saffron flag or raising slogans like "Har Har Modi". When I asked a young BJP supporter at restaurant near my hotel, he said: "We have come from eastern UP as we were asked to do so by our local leaders." He also said that only local participation couldn't make for such a large turnout, thus they were asked to join on Friday morning. Earlier, BJP co-ordinators clarified that Sunday's road show was not planned. People of Varansi welcomed their Prime Minister and MP. But how could party leaders predict such large crowds? Even locals seem surprised.

On Sunday the Prime Minister's roadshow covered South, cantonment, and northern part of Varanasi, which are BJP strongholds, there too bikers were brought in from Lucknow, Unnao and Mau, sources said.

While speaking to another young BJP worker, we got to know that they had been paid by the party to show up at the rallies, he claimed. Even SP-Congress alliance did so. They paid Rs. 1000/- per person, the youth asserted. "For us it is Rs. 250/-, but for them it is Rs. 1000/-." Party workers have been trained to drum up support at rallies, sources said.

For the last one week Varanasi has witnessed a galaxy of top politicians, Union leaders had been vigorously campaigning in every corner of Poorvanchal vigorously till Monday. But most interestingly BSP supporters haven't been as vociferous. The locals claimed that BSP voters only listen to their leaders and attend rallies silently. Thus they are being overlooked during the entire poll campaign.

Meanwhile, the entire country is waiting for March 11, and even market experts are saying that a positive referendum on its note ban drive could provide a big boost to the BJP.