Speech skips Hindutva, UP riots

In Gorakhpur, the land of the famous Goraksh Peeth and the Geeta Press, BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi steered clear of Hindutva talk.
Contrary to expectations, Mr Modi made no mention of the Ram temple or Hindutva in his 60-minute speech even though he went to offer prayers at the Gorakhnath temple on his arrival in Gorakhpur.
The fact that Gorakhpur is the bastion of firebrand Hindu leader and BJP MP Mahant Yogi Adityanath, who also organised the rally, it was believed that Mr Modi would include some Hindutva talk in his speech. However, he did not go beyond praising the role of Geeta Press in preserving and promoting the Hindu legacy, philosophy and knowledge through its books.
Thursday’s rally made it clear that the BJP prime ministerial candidate wanted to keep the focus firmly on development issues and good governance and was keen to reach out to the maximum number of people, rising above boundaries of religion and caste.
He spoke of poverty that transcends religion and caste, talked about the poor remaining poor and even mentioned the lack of employment opportunities that forced the youth to migrate to other states, Gujarat in particular.
Mr Modi targeted the backwardness of Purvanchal region when he mentioned the Gorakhpur fertiliser units that have been shut down for years. “The world is adopting new agricultural techniques to improve productivity but here the fertiliser units have been shut and farmers suffer due to lack of agricultural facilities. I promise to change things for you and give your children a better future,” he said. The BJP apparently hopes to make inroads in the region by talking about its long-standing backwardness and promising to bring qualitative change.
“Mr Modi knows that development will get a wider audience while the Hindutva issue will limit his appeal to one particular community. He has avoided all such issues which could give ammunition to the opposition to attack him and that explains why the crowds at his rallies are swelling by the day,” said a young BJP MLA.