6,000 delegates. 120 speakers from 10 countries. 32 sessions. If somebody likened the just-concluded ‘UP Investors Meet’ to a business ‘kumbh mela’, she was not too far off the mark.

But despite the towering presence of the Prime Minister, the President and over 20 Cabinet ministers, the real blockbuster lies next year, when Kumbh Mela 2019 will be held, at Prayag.

All through the business summit, Prayag 2019 was subtly but insistently marketed to the attendees. As somebody remarked, events and emotions are key to capturing an electorate, and Kumbh 2019, to be held next January could be a potential gamechanger in an election year. The Narendra Modi government’s term expires in May 2019.

If the Kumbh 2019 logo was prominently displayed everywhere during the summit, then the Prime Minister himself, during his inaugural address on Wednesday, referred to it, setting the stage for India’s biggest religious-cultural gathering. “The Kumbh mela, to be organised at Prayag next year, will be the largest such event of its kind in the world,” he proclaimed, exhorting Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to ensure that visitors from every country in the world were drawn to the event.

On Thursday, talking to the media, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal highlighted how the national transporter was gearing up for the Mela by working on upgrading five stations near Allahabad.

“We anticipate that at least 15 crore pilgrims will attend the Kumbh Mela at Prayag Raj. For that, Allahabad plus two stations on each side of the city, are being upgraded. Member Railways has himself been entrusted with the responsibility to handle this task and been asked to do it in ‘mission mode’”, he said.

Focus on Ayodhya

While many felt the focus on Kumbh was subtly shifting the spotlight away from Ayodhya, and yet keeping the Hindutva agenda alive, surprisingly, there was much investor interest around the town at the heart of the Ram Janmabhoomi temple issue, too.

A few hoteliers evinced interest in acquiring land and building hotels in Ayodhya, where one of the projects announced during the summit was a theme-based entertainment park.

The UP government’s thrust on tourism appeared to be clearly around religious tourism. Several projects, including a floating hotel on the Ganga in Varanasi, and a ₹200-crore resort by the Mahindra Group, were announced.

However, it is Kumbh 2019 that is the immediate priority and focus of the UP government as well as the Centre. As Prime Minister Modi told Chief Minister Adityanath during the inaugural address, now that Kumbh has been declared a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage, he should leverage it. It may be recalled that the Maha Kumbh at Ujjain which brought in huge infrastructure development to the ancient city as well as Indore, and strengthened the position of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan administration.

If the BJP government can pull off a successful Kumbh Mela and win the hearts of UP’s 22 crore people, which is one-sixth the country’s population, then a quarter of the job for 2019 elections is done.

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