As drumbeats signal the impending end of the Ram-Ravana battle for another year, Lucknow this Dussehra (Vijayadashmi) is getting ready to witness the intensifying of another battle.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is all set to jump into the fray in what is expected to be one of the most closely fought Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in the past few decades.
In a move away from tradition, BJP’s star campaigner and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend Dussehra day celebrations in UP’s capital, and then address the gathered crowd at the historic Aishbagh Ramlila maidan.
The BJP has denied any political motive behind this move, but this special visit to Lucknow ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in 2017 has not escaped the keen eye of political analysts. They are viewing this as the BJP’s unofficial war cry for the battle to win Uttar Pradesh.