BJP ropes in Gandhi’s grandson to launch clean Ganga campaign

Contrary to the general perception of BJP and RSS being anti-Gandhi, the party has decided to rope in Kanubhai for launching the awareness campaign on Swachata Abhiyan to make Ganga clean, a pet project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

Bapu’s grandson has been tasked to launch the campaign from Garhmukteshwar, which is situated in Hapur, Uttar Pradesh. The dates of campaign would soon be announced after finalising the route plan for the same. As per the plan, Kanubhai would undertake awareness programme for people residing on the banks about their responsibilities to keep the holy rive clean as it’s the lifeline of the nation.

 The party is hopeful that clean Ganga campaign will help in breaking the caste lines in the area. It’s well known that the sugarcane-producing districts of western Uttar Pradesh holds the key to electoral success or failure as more than 32-lakh cane growers exercise a decisive influence over the poll outcome. There are 71 assembly constituencies in this part of the state.

 According to party insiders, the decision was taken after reports came in media about Kanubahi along with his wife living in an old-age home in Delhi. Union Minister Mahesh Sharma as Modi’s emissary visited the couple to take stock of the situation and during his visit, Modi had a long telephonic conversation with Kanubhai Gandhi. Both talked for a while in Gujarati, their mother tongue.

 Soon after the conversion, Kanubhai claimed himself as Modi’s staunch follower.  “I am a very old follower of the Prime Minister, and he still remembers the help I had extended to him. Those days Congress president Sonia Gandhi was against (both of) us,” he had said. 

Getting cosy with Bapu’s family would certainly irk Congress and other opposition parties as allegations have been levelled against Modi government for eulogising Bapu’s killer—Nathuram Godse by observing ‘Shaurya Divas’ in Maharashtra and other parts of the country.

 By invoking Ganga, which traverses from Garhmukteshwar in western UP to Ballia in the far-eastern corner, the party hopes to win over castes like Mallah, Kevat, Nishad, Bind and Kashyap, which have never been BJP voters. Although the Ganga, which covers a distance of 1,100 km in UP, has so far never been a major poll issue in the state, this time, the BJP wants to turn it into their biggest riding vehicle to success.

Other grandsons of Bapu, who have been active in politics –Gopal Krishna Gandhi and Rajmohan Gandhi –are associated with Congress and Aam Aadmi Party respectively. Rajmohan Gandhi had contested 2014 general election from the East Delhi constituency and lost to BJP’s Mahesh Girri. Gopal Krishna Gandhi was Governor of West Bengal during the UPA regime.