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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.

Who Is Tahawwur Hussain Rana?

PTI
Apr 11, 2025
5 min read

Tahawwur Hussain Rana, 64, is a Pakistan-born Canadian national and close associate of one of the main conspirators of 2008 Mumbai terror attacks David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, a US citizen. He was born in Chichawatni city in Sahiwal district of Pakistan's Punjab province. After pursuing his studies in medicine from a college in Pakistan, he worked in Pakistan Army's medical corps.


Rana migrated to Canada after leaving the Pakistani Army in late 1990s and later got Canadian citizenship. He started his own business of immigration services provider through his 'First World Immigration Services' venture. Rana then moved to the US and set up office in Chicago.


How did Rana get in touch with Headley?

Security agency officials say Headley, who was born in the US to a Pakistani father and American mother, is Rana's childhood friend.


Sometime after his birth, Headley's family moved to Pakistan where he went to a school in Hasan Abdal city in Attock district. This was where Headley befriended Rana.


What is Rana's involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case?

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) registered a case on November 11, 2009 under section 121 A of Indian Penal Code (IPC), Section 18 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Section 6(2) SAARC Convention (Suppression of Terrorism) Act against Headley, Rana and others.


Headley, a resident of Chicago, Illinois, and Rana entered into a criminal conspiracy with members of Pakistan-based terror groups Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul Jihadi Islami (HUJI) to commit terrorist acts in New Delhi and other places in India.


A total of 166 people, including six Americans, were killed in the 2008 attacks in which 10 Pakistani terrorists laid a 60-hour siege, attacking people at iconic and vital locations of Mumbai.


In November 2012, Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist among the Pakistani group, was hanged to death in Yerawada Jail in Pune.


Investigating agency officials said Rana had assisted Headley in obtaining a visa for India and established 'Immigrant Law Centre' in Mumbai, which acted as a front.


It is alleged that Rana was aware of Headley's terror links and even helped in reconnaissance of targets in Mumbai and planning the attacks on the National Defence College in New Delhi and Chabad House in Mumbai.


Rana also visited Hapur (Uttar Pradesh), Delhi, Agra, Kochi, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai in the country with his wife Samraz Rana Akhtar between November 13 and November 21, 2008. His initial planning includes the attack on Chabad Houses located in different cities.


Headley had gone to the US and met Rana in June 2006 where they discussed their future action plan, the officials said.


Rana also remained in contact with Major Iqbal, another co-conspirator of the 26/11 carnage.


During his first visit to India, Headley spoke to Rana over phone more than 32 times. Subsequently, Headley spoke with Rana 23 times during his second visit, 40 times during the third visit, 37 times during the fifth visit, 33 times during the sixth visit and 66 times during the eighth visit, officials said, explaining his active involvement in the Mumbai attack conspiracy.


What's next after Rana's extradition?

Probe agency officials said Rana is likely to be kept in NIA's custody after due legal process for further questioning to ascertain the role of Pakistani state actors behind the 26/11 attacks. His interrogation may shed new light on the investigation.


Officials are also believed to be exploring the option of keeping him in a highly-secured cell of Tihar prisons.


His extradition from the US could also provide important leads into his travels in parts of northern and southern India days before the carnage in 2008, they said.


During investigation, the roles of senior LeT and HUJI functionaries namely Hafiz Muhammad Saeed alias Tayyaji, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Sajjid Majid alias Wasi ,Illyas Kashmiri and Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed alias Major Abdurrehman alias Pasha in the attack case have emerged.


They were working in active connivance and assistance from ISI officers namely Major Iqbal alias Major Ali, Major Sameer Ali alias Major Samir, all residents of Pakistan, the officials said.


The NIA special court, Patiala House has issued non-bailable warrants against all the accused persons.


Headley and Rana were arrested by law enforcement agencies in the US in their case. Consequent upon the request of the NIA, the Interpol, CBI issued red notices against the remaining seven absconding accused persons.


NIA had also sent extradition requests to the US for extradition of Headley and Rana. A letters rogatory (letter of request for assistance in investigation) has been furnished to Pakistan as well and their reply is said to be awaited.


The NIA, after completion of its investigation, filed charge sheet before the court on December 24, 2011 against all the accused under sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy), read with 121, 121A, 302, 468 and 471 Indian Penal Code and sections 16,18 & 20 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.


The punishment for criminal conspiracy depends upon the nature of offence which is the object of the conspiracy.


A convict can be sentenced to death penalty or life imprisonment if the conspiracy involves offences like murder punishable with death or life term.


A Delhi court had earlier this year sought the trial records of the 26/11 terror attack from a Mumbai court.


The order came on a plea of the NIA , seeking the retrieval of the records from Mumbai.


The trial court records were previously sent to Mumbai due to the presence of multiple cases related to the 26/11 attacks in both cities.


Where in the US was Rana before extradition?

Rana was lodged at a metropolitan detention centre in Los Angeles. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the US arrested Rana in Chicago a year after the attacks in October 2009 for providing support for an aborted plan to attack a newspaper in Copenhagen (Denmark) and providing material support to LeT. However, Rana was acquitted of conspiracy to provide material support to the Mumbai terror attacks. Rana was convicted in 2011 in that case and sentenced to 14 years.


How was Rana's extradition processed?

India had been trying to extradite Rana for many years because of his association with LeT and HuJI, Headley and his active involvement in the Mumbai attacks.


Rana had by now exhausted all his legal options available to such subjects in the US and was brought to India to face the law. A multi-agency team from India went to the US and all paperwork and legalities were completed with the authorities there, sources said.


During a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the White House in February, US President Donald Trump had announced that his administration had approved the extradition of "very evil people of the world like Rana to face justice in India".


Rana's extradition was first cleared by the US Supreme Court in January as it rejected his review petition in the case.


Rana then submitted an 'Emergency Application For Stay Pending Litigation of Petition For Writ of Habeas Corpus' on February 27, 2025, with Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court and Circuit Justice for the Ninth Circuit Elena Kagan. Kagan gad denied the application last month.


Rana had then renewed his 'Emergency Application for Stay Pending Litigation of Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus previously addressed to Justice Kagan', and requested that the renewed application be directed to US Chief Justice John Roberts.


An order on the Supreme Court website noted that Rana's renewed application had been "distributed for Conference" on April 4 and the "application" has been "referred to the Court.


A notice on the Supreme Court website on April 7, said, "Application denied by the Court", thus paving the way for his imminent return to India to face the trial.

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