It is unfortunate that just hours before the Hunkar Rally of Narendra Modi, the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate, serial bomb blasts devastated the city, and as per current information, 5 people are feared to be dead, while many others are injured.

As the elections draw near and large number of crowds would be gathering at rallies and speeches of leaders, the police and intelligence agencies need to be over vigilant to prevent any such happenings.

The Catch 22

Actually there is a catch 22 in it, the rallies and speeches are meant to motivate people to vote for that particular candidate or party or their allies, whoever is holding the rally. Hence they would like maximum public participation and hence over strict regulations in this case could possibly mean discouraging many people from attending due to inconveniences associated with checking on such large crowd.

However given such incidents, it is clear that life and limb carry priority over any political motive and strict check should be done with the incorporation of latest security techniques which can detect any objects or bomb material even by aerial scanning or something similar which does not trade off convenience with security to a great degree.

Are Rallies Necessary?

India may be a developing nation, still it needs to be seen if actually carrying out such rallies at such huge scale are necessary. Isnt it better to connect via other platforms like social media, electronic media and digital media. How much man hours are wasted when thousands or lacs of people visit the rally leaving their work in between. Plus it also causes issues of sanitation, hygienic food and so forth apart from the security issues which are the gravest cause for concern.

Yet there is a certain element of solidarity which is perhaps best seen and felt in a physical gathering rather than virtual one and that is why the leaders want people to gather in maximum numbers.

Political Conspiracy Vs Terrorism

I would not like to comment on this without any solid proof but can give both sides of the theory as follows.

Narendra Mody has been attracting huge crowds in his rallies which was certainly causing concern amongst the rival factions hence such a ghastly act would discourage people in future to attend such rallies which could mean that the impact of Mody wave could be lessened. This theory points a direct finger at the rival factions, and what better place could they have chosen than Bihar where law and order situation is certainly not the best in the country.

However there are equal chances that it is an act of terrorism which was done deliberately to create communal tension.

Politics is certainly known to be a tricky game but the terrorists are a sulking lot too, hence whoever is responsible for this should be brought to the book at the earliest and most severe punishment be meted out to discourage any such future incidents.