Prime minister Narendra Modi will visit Malaseri village in Bhilwara district on Saturday for the 1,111th birth anniversary of Devnarayan, a folk deity of Rajasthan who is revered by the Gurjar community.
The event is being organised by the Union culture ministry. Apart from the PM, Rajasthan governor Kalraj Mishra has also been invited.
This will be the Prime Minister’s third visit to Rajasthan in as many months and the trip is significant given that assembly elections are due in the state later this year. Modi has earlier visited Mangadh Dham in Banswara district and Sirohi district a few months back.
Devnarayan is believed to be an incarnation of Lord Vishnu and was born in Malaseri in the 10th century. The Devnarayan Doongri temple in Malaseri in Asind sub-division of Bhilwara is visited not only by Gurjars but other Hindu communities as well. The PM will offer prayers at the temple and address the gathering.
While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has said this is not a political visit, the party is eyeing political mileage from the PM’s presence at the event. Apart from Rajasthan, there is considerable presence of Gurjars in Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
It is expected that Modi will announce setting-up of a Devnarayan corridor in Asind sub-division on the lines of the corridors in Kashi, Ayodhya and Ujjain.
Research and survey teams from the Centre have already visited Asind and is studying historical evidence, literature and religious documents connected to Devnarayan. The teams are talking to Gurjar organisations, experts and academics at universities to find out information on Devnarayan and people, places and events connected to his life.
BJP Rajasthan incharge Arun Singh, who visited Malaseri to take stock of the preparations, said the PM’s first visit here will be historic and grand.
“MLAs and MPs from the area have been working to make the visit a success. BJP workers are going door to door in several districts to invite Gurjars and other communities for the PM’s meeting. People from all communities will attend the programme to offer prayers to Lord Devnarayan and to listen to the Prime Minister. There is a lot of enthusiasm among the people,” he said.
A new helipad is being constructed near the venue where the PM’s chopper will land.
Modi is expected to arrive at 11.30am and will spend about 90 minutes at the venue. Around 2.5 lakh people are expected to attend the event.
Gurjars hold sway on as many as 40 assembly seats in 15 districts of eastern Rajasthan. In the 2018 assembly elections, the BJP had fielded nine Gurjars but all lost. The Gurjar community voted almost en masse for the Congress in the hope that Sachin Pilot, a Gurjar, would become Rajasthan chief minister. All eight Gurjar candidates fielded by the Congress, won.
But in the ensuing days, the power tussle between chief minister Ashok Gehlot and deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, who has been largely sidelined, has angered the Gurjars. The BJP is hoping to cash in on the resentment within the Gurjar community against the Congress.
