In this city famous for the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati, temperatures are soaring — politically and otherwise. The signs are evident right from outside the Bamrauli airport, where a massive banner shows the BJP's Sultanpur MP Varun Gandhi alongside prime minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah.
It is Gandhi who is the protagonist in the poster blitzkrieg that has taken over the city, especially its central area, where the BJP's national executive begins on Sunday. Party leaders, however, played down Gandhi's dominance. There is a concern in the party that the poster onslaught was eclipsing the conclave. According to party leaders, the posters may have been put up by supporters at a time when there was speculation over the BJP's chief ministerial candidate in UP. However, Gandhi's aggressive poster campaign could boomerang on him, party sources said.
"Posters don't make anyone a leader. Chief ministers Manohar Lal Khattar, Devendra Fadnavis and Raghubar Das were not seen on posters," said party general secretary Arun Singh.
He said the BJP's official posters have the prime minister, party chief, parliamentary board members, BJP chief ministers and members of the marg darshak mandal.
Sources said that putting up posters with images as big as those of senior leaders, breaking hierarchy, was not acceptable to the party.
Posters in which Gandhi was the central figure also has images of other leaders, including Rajnath Singh, LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Maneka Gandhi and Mumbai Northwest MP Poonam Mahajan.
While one poster says "na goondgardi, na bhrashtachar, ab ki baar BJP sarkar", another says "UP ki karun pukar, BJP ko lao".
Among the posters fighting for space in the city are also of Modi's bête noire Sanjay Joshi and Shatrughan Sinha, who has often rubbed the party the wrong way.
There are also posters showing Union minister Smriti Irani and Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath, both of whom are also among names being speculated to be in the race for a chief ministerial face in UP.
However, 2 km from the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati, where the party is holding its meet at the Kayastha Pathshala, a parade ground, there are only posters of Modi, Shah, Atal Bihari Vapayee and LK Advani on the dais. Incidentally, Advani had held a rally from this ground in 2009, when he was the PM candidate.
On the other side of the sprawling hall is the image of a mendicant blowing a conch on the banks of the confluence, with a quote from the Ram Charitra Manas. An image of the Buddha and that of Swami Vivekananda is in another hall.
It is from Allahabad — where the BJP does not have a single MLA in the district's 12 assembly seats — that the party plans to sound the war bugle for UP.
The national executive, which could come out with a resolution on the future roadmap for the organisation, has called some leaders who have quit the Congress and joined the BJP as special invitees, including Vijay Bahuguna, Giridhar Gaman, Himanta Biswa Sarma and Chauba Singh.
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