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...

min read

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.

The Strength Behind Smiles

Divyaa Advaani

Oct 31, 2025

3 min read

Everyone’s fighting a battle you can’t see. Some wear their exhaustion under designer suits. Some hide it behind boardroom smiles. And yet, when life keeps throwing curveballs, the quiet whisper inside says, “Why me, always?”

What the world often sees is the highlight reel — smiling pictures, confident handshakes, flawless presentations. What it doesn’t see are the sleepless nights, the quiet doubts, and the countless times one gathers the strength to show up again. Everyone carries a story behind that smile, a silent resilience that keeps them moving forward. And yet, the irony is that we often mistake composure for comfort.

We scroll through glossy LinkedIn posts, watch peers speak on stages, and convince ourselves they’ve cracked the code. But the truth? They’re struggling too — just differently. The only distinction is this: they’ve learned how to show up with presence, not perfection.

And that, right there, is the secret difference between those who get seen and those who stay unseen.

In today’s hyper-visible world, your competence alone isn’t enough. People don’t buy your service, product, or position first — they buy your perception. The way you show up — online and offline — shapes how seriously the world takes you.

I once coached a founder from Pune who’d built a brilliant tech solution but couldn’t get a single investor meeting. His product was strong, his numbers impressive — yet, he came across as unsure and inconsistent online. We worked on refining his digital presence and communication for three sessions. Within eight weeks, he not only secured two investor introductions but also landed a pilot project he’d been chasing for a year. Nothing in his business changed — only how the world perceived him did.

In business and in life, perception often outruns reality. The world remembers how we show up, not always what we go through. And that’s where personal branding begins — not as a façade, but as the discipline to turn authenticity into strength, and struggle into silent power.

That’s what personal branding really is — not a logo, not a wardrobe upgrade, but a deliberate alignment between who you are and how you appear. It’s your reputation system working even when you aren’t in the room.

When leaders neglect their personal brand, they unknowingly let others write their story. And once that happens, it’s tough to reclaim the narrative.

A strong brand doesn’t just make you “look good.” It builds credibility, attracts collaborations, opens doors faster, and positions you as the trusted choice — in a world overflowing with options.

Every professional who says “enough now” when life gets heavy must realise — strength isn’t just surviving silently. It’s in learning to present that resilience in a way that inspires confidence, opportunity, and respect. That’s how personal brands are born — not from perfection, but from presence with purpose.

I’ve helped over 200 founders, executives, and professionals sharpen their presence to align with their goals — from attracting global investors to leading teams with greater authority. And it always starts with one question: “How are people experiencing you when you’re not in the room?”

If that question makes you pause — that’s your signal to act.

To help you begin, I’ve created a free one-page checklist titled “3 Signs Your Personal Brand Is Holding You Back.” You can get it by sending the word BRAND CHECKLIST via Instagram on @suaveu6 or LinkedIn @Divyaa Advaani or emailing suaveu6@gmail.com with the subject line CHECKLIST.

And if you’d like a more personalised start, you can also book a free 20-minute Brand Audit with me on https://sprect.com/pro/divyaaadvaani. In that call, I’ll give you three practical changes you can implement in the next week to be more visible, credible, and memorable in your industry. Just mention NEWSPAPER AUDIT when you reach out.

Because the truth is — everyone is struggling, but only a few choose to transform that struggle into their signature story.

(The author is a personal branding expert. She has clients from 14+ countries. Views personal.)

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