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By:

Rajendra Pandharpure

15 April 2025 at 7:55:54 pm

The BJP’s Ganesha Gambit

Pune’s Ganeshotsav has become an enormous civic and political stage, and the ruling party has proved adept at occupying it. Pune: The city’s Ganeshotsav is entering its final phase, but the festival has already demonstrated something beyond its extraordinary crowds and familiar spectacle: the extent to which it has become a political stage. This year, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has left a particularly visible imprint on the festivities, using an event that reaches deep into the city’s...

The BJP’s Ganesha Gambit

Pune’s Ganeshotsav has become an enormous civic and political stage, and the ruling party has proved adept at occupying it. Pune: The city’s Ganeshotsav is entering its final phase, but the festival has already demonstrated something beyond its extraordinary crowds and familiar spectacle: the extent to which it has become a political stage. This year, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has left a particularly visible imprint on the festivities, using an event that reaches deep into the city’s neighbourhoods as an opportunity for public outreach. The political appropriation of the festival has not, however, been without a counter-current. Demands were raised for curbs on noise pollution, loudspeakers and the volume of dhol-tasha performances. The argument was not against Ganeshotsav itself, but for moderation - notably, a complete ban on DJ music and limits on the number of dhol and tasha instruments used by performing troupes. Familiar Troubles The festival’s reality has been rather different. Major roads have been occupied by mandaps. Processions celebrating the arrival of Lord Ganesha have unfolded amid punishing noise. DJ music, while subject to restrictions, has continued. Traffic congestion has become a familiar feature of the festival, with the movement of political leaders adding another layer to the city’s already strained roads. The Peth areas have remained crowded deep into the night. The Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati temple has drawn enormous crowds for darshan from the opening day. From the old city to housing societies and neighbourhood mandals, Ganeshotsav touches virtually every part of Pune. For a political party seeking a direct connection with citizens, few occasions offer such a ready-made network of people, institutions and local influencers. The BJP enters this festival with an unusually formidable organisational base. It has two MPs, seven MLAs and more than 100 corporators in Pune. Murlidhar Mohol, one of the city’s MPs, is a Union Minister of State. Chandrakant Patil is a Cabinet minister in the Maharashtra government, while Madhuri Misal is a Minister of State. The party’s presence also extends into the festival’s organisational architecture. Its influence is visible across numerous mandals, large and small. BJP MLA Hemant Rasane is General Secretary of the Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Sarvajanik Ganpati Trust. Kunal Tilak, a member of Lokmanya Tilak’s family, is a BJP corporator. The political and cultural histories of Pune therefore intersect in ways that are difficult to ignore. The BJP’s senior leadership has also made the most of the occasion. National President Nitin Nabin visited Pune to seek Lord Ganesha’s blessings, while Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis visited the city before and during the festival. Such visits are about more than religious observance. In a festival watched by millions and embedded in the city’s social life, political visibility comes almost automatically. There is also talk in Pune that the BJP provided substantial financial support to Dhol-Lezim troupes and their organisers, with claims that some major mandals received financial backing as well. These claims would require independent verification, but the perception itself points to the depth of the political contest around Ganeshotsav. BJP workers, according to local observers, have also sought to make their presence more conspicuous than that of festivities organised by housing societies. Useful Expedient The festival arrives at a politically useful moment for the BJP. The party has faced disquiet on several fronts. Young people have been agitated over the paper-leak controversy. Broader public dissatisfaction has been voiced over inflation and unemployment, while government policies relating to ethanol and charges associated with UPI transactions have also generated criticism. While a political party can defend a policy in a press conference and advertise its achievements, during Ganeshotsav, its workers can be physically present in neighbourhoods, among processions, mandals, cultural groups and devotees. Politics thus becomes less about argument and more about visibility. That is the BJP’s advantage in Pune. Ganeshotsav, after all, is not simply a sequence of religious rituals. It is an elaborate civic network involving local organisers, volunteers, cultural groups, businesses, residents and political representatives. Whoever has influence over that network acquires a powerful channel of communication with the city. The BJP appears to understand this particularly well. Its strength in Pune’s electoral politics has been reinforced by a presence that extends beyond elections and into the institutions and social spaces that organise public life. The irony is that the very scale of the festival that makes it politically attractive also magnifies the civic costs. The political value of Ganeshotsav and the civic burden it creates are therefore two sides of the same phenomenon. For Pune, the larger question is not whether politics has entered Ganeshotsav. It has done so for decades. The more consequential question is whether the festival’s extraordinary social capital will remain primarily a vehicle for political outreach or whether the same influence can be used to reconcile celebration with the ordinary civic needs of the city. For the moment, the BJP seems to have understood the first proposition better than most.

Bihar and India: Confronting Prejudice, Pursuing Progress

Writer: Akhilesh Sinha
Akhilesh Sinha
Sep 9, 2025
4 min read

Once dismissed as backward, Bihar is now rewriting its narrative by standing tall in economic growth and drawing strength from an ancient legacy of knowledge.

Bihar and India today stand not just at the center of national discourse but also the heart of international debates. Within the country’s politics, Bihar’s identity is repeatedly subjected to contempt and slander, while at a global level, deliberate attempts are being made to re-enslave India economically. This irony is striking, for India has emerged as one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, and Bihar, among the largest Indian states, has recorded the highest rate of economic growth.


Yet, the mindset of superpowers such as that of U.S. President Donald Trump evokes memories of the colonial era. Though not directly, he endeavours to reduce India to a state of economic servitude. The irony, however, is that America’s own economy teeters on the brink of recession, according to Moody’s report. On the other hand, India is rapidly moving towards becoming the world’s third largest economy. According to a poll conducted by Reuters between 18 and 26 August, 70 economists estimate that despite the tariff war, India’s GDP can remain at 6.7 percent, which is slightly higher than the recent estimate made by the RBI.


Similarly, people from Bihar are making their presence felt across diverse fields — from civil services, the armed forces, and politics to the corporate sector and grassroots labour. Yet, some political parties — notably the Congress — spare no opportunity to brand Bihar as ‘backward’ and deride its people with contempt.


This mentality is not new. Yet history bears witness to the fact that ancient India was once a leading trade and cultural power of the world. During the age of Julius Caesar, the Roman Senate itself observed that Indian merchants were exporting even common goods like cutlery to Rome, and in return, draining Roman gold. This was emblematic of India’s commercial supremacy.


Over two millennia ago, when India was fragmented among small states, Bihar — then known as Magadha — was the crucible of Mauryan emperor Ashoka, who laid the foundation of a united India. His empire stretched from the northeast to the borders of Iran, from Kandahar down to the southern expanses of Karnataka, Andhra and Tamil Nadu. Ashoka not only consolidated political dominion but also extended cultural and commercial ties with Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, laying a strong foundation of dialogue across borders.


Yet, even today, leaders like Trump perceive India through the lens of colonial subjugation, once under the Mughals and later the British. This mindset finds reflection in his so-called ‘tariff wars.’ A report published in the New York Times, quoting officials, revealed that on June 17 this year, Trump and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on the phone for almost thirty-five minutes. During this conversation, Trump requested Modi to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize, citing Pakistan’s military leadership had already done so. Modi, however, declined firmly, stating that the India-Pakistan ceasefire had been an entirely sovereign Indian decision, uninfluenced by any third country. From this moment onward, tariff negotiations between India and America took a sharp turn, descending into an economic confrontation.


America’s policy mirrors that of the British East India Company, which penetrated India under the pretence of trade but laid the groundwork of colonial rule. Much like America’s behaviour towards India, Bihar continues to face dismissive treatment in national politics. The Congress and its allies have repeatedly hurled derogatory remarks against Biharis. The Kerala Congress once likened them to a ‘beedi.’


More recently, with an eye to shaping narratives in the upcoming Bihar Assembly election, Kerala Congress leaders were heard telling their workers that “Biharis had been shown their place.” The reason was for spewing such vitriol is because of the electoral calculations in Bihar and Maharashtra, where migrant voters from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh play a decisive role.


Derogatory remarks against Biharis are hardly new. Time and again, they have been branded as “a social and economic burden,” “dirty crowds” or asked to be “driven out.” Such rhetoric emerges not only in Maharashtra but also in Tamil Nadu on the eve of elections. In a viral video, DMK minister Dayanidhi Maran declared Biharis as mere “toilet cleaners.” Several DMK leaders went further, stigmatizing them as “panipuri sellers” and “illiterates.”


Former Punjab Chief Minister CharanjitChanni openly declared at an election rally that he would not allow Biharis entry into Punjab, a statement that drew applause from Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra herself as she stood by his side. These instances clearly show that Bihar’s dignity is often sacrificed at the altar of political opportunism.


And yet, Bihar has resurrected itself against the grain of adversity. While Bihar’s growth during the early decades of freedom was at par with leading states, it gradually came to be branded as a ‘sick state.’ Today, Bihar is the fastest developing state in eastern India. In 2014-15, Bihar’s growth rate stood at 8.15 percent, which soared to 14.47 percent in 2023-24. By comparison, neighbouring Uttar Pradesh stood at 12 percent, West Bengal at 11.04 percent and Jharkhand at 10.46 percent.


Yet, law and order issues remain a stumbling block. Electoral violence and political shielding of criminals exacerbate crime rates. The primary reason industries shy away from Bihar is this pervasive atmosphere of insecurity.


Of the ancient universities, Nalanda and Vikramshila stood proudly on Bihar’s soil. In Pataliputra, the capital of Magadha, Aryabhata, the great mathematician invented zero. This very zero forms the foundation of modern civilization, without which computers, smartphones and artificial intelligence would be utterly inconceivable.


As Bihar confronts the twin challenges of political prejudice and systemic insecurity, its rich legacy and recent economic strides offer a powerful testament to its resolve to redefine both its identity and its role in India’s future.

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