Lok Sabha polls 2014: Arvind Kejriwal’s Varanasi act replete with symbolism

NEW DELHI: Arvind Kejriwal’s campaign in Varanasi is to be replete with symbolism, even to the place where he has chosen to stay in his sojourn in the temple town. Kejriwal is the guest of the head priest of the renowned Sankat Mochan temple in Varanasi, Bishambhar Mishra. Mishra’s father, the late Veer Bhadra Mishra was a hero of sorts in the town not just because he headed the ancient Hanuman temple, founded by Goswami Tulsidas, who wrote the Ramcharitmanas, but also because he was a hydraulics engineer and was named one of TIME magazines "Heroes of the Planet" in 1999 for his working in cleaning the Ganga. He earned the devotion of the town in 2006 when he withstood the politicization of the blasts at the temple complex. BJP leader Vinay Katiyar had threatened to sit on dharna at the temple, but Mishra refused permission, calling it a national tragedy and not just for Hindus.

Kejriwal’s choice of the Mishra household as his hosts in Varanasi is pregnant with meaning. Veer Bhadra Mishra’s son, Bishambhar Mishra, however, refused to endorse Kejriwal politically.

"He is staying in the temple complex where we stay, at guest accomodations in my brother’s residence," said Mishra. "The post of head priest is a very sensitive one, and I am mindful of that. But he is our guest," he told ET." I have met everyone who has come to visit, including Modi and even Congressmen."