BJP hopes to please gods with Rashtra Raksha Yagna ahead of 2019 polls

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants to win the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

And for sure it wants to win it well.

So who does the party turn to? Its ranks of dedicated cadre? Its well-oiled election machine? No. Instead it is invoking divine intervention.

The party top brass has decided to hold a week-long 'mahayagna' christened "Rashtra Raksha Yagna" (which translates to "protect the nation yagya").

Once the Prime Minister Narendra Modi gives his nod the yagna blueprint which is almost ready will be given the final touches.

Sources say the yagna may be a week-long affair. A senior BJP leader said that it could start from March 18 and end on March 25.

The blueprint of the event says that the event may start with the Prime Minister making the first "aahuti" (offering to the Gods). Amit Shah, the party president, is likely to pray on all seven days.

Ministers, chief ministers from BJP-ruled states, MPs and other BJP leaders are expected to attend the yagna. Some sources say that the BJP is considering inviting President Ram Nath Kovind to attend the event.

The venue for the mega affair is likely to be the sprawling lawns of Delhi's Red Fort.

Given BJP's subliminal messaging there is a reason in the choice of Red Fort as the venue. Not only is it a symbol of India's glorious past it also stands for the might of an electoral victor.

The leader of the winning party gets to unfurl the tricolour at the Red Fort. This year would be Modi's fifth appearance from the ramparts of the Red Fort. Given recent hiccups in Gujarat, BJP may pray to the gods for another term.

The timing of the yagna is also not an arbitrary choice: some 280 years ago Bajirao Ballalla Bhatt had defeated a weakened Mughal army and with just 500 horses laid siege to the Red Fort for three days.

Since the stakes are high, the design of "hawan kunds" will go to some Bollywood designer.

The key deity to be invoked at the yagna would be "Mata Baglamukhi". The goddess is known to bless her worshippers with powers to beat rivals, unmatched oratorical and debating skills.

The blueprint of the programme includes 50,000 people offering prayers daily. Each evening there will be cultural shows to keep the participants engaged. Seating arrangement for 15-20,000 is likely to be created.