01-08-2025
Modi's new veshti strategy
It was a sublimely choreographed moment of political theatre, of the grandiose genre that has long been seen to befit the man. Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the ancient Brihadiswara Temple, holding a vessel of gangajal from Kashi, framed against the gopuram and the blue Tamil skies behind. That July 27 image from Gangaikonda Chozhapuram, tweeted by BJP leader H. Raja with the caption 'Living Gangai Kondan', went viral. The symbolism was thick, and hard to miss.
