It is a normal practice for the supporters to greet their leaders with flowers and cakes. The more enormous cake they get, the better the leader is pleased with his courtiers. R.J.D. Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav celebrates his birthday with secular cakes. On his 55th birthday, the cake was shaped like a church, masjid, and temple. Late Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa once cut a cake in the shape of parliament, revealing her ambition for a National role. Mayawati uses her birthday for crowdfunding and gets enormous amounts for her Party on January 16. Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh presented an 81-kilo "laddoo" when he turned 80 in November 2019. On Narendra Modi's birthday in 2019, a Surat bakery baked a 700-foot long cake. In Delhi, B.J.P. M.P.s cut a 370 kg cake to evoke revocation of Article 370.

The B.J.P., too, has found novel ways of celebrating birthday events. For instance, the silver jubilee function of the Party held in Mumbai in 2005 had the B.J.P. leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee emerging from a vast lotus built for the occasion Shivaji stadium.

The B.J.P. plans to celebrate Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 71st birthday as a mega event. A flurry of events is scheduled from September 17 ( his birthday) and October 7, when he became Gujarat Chief Minister 20 years ago. Last year, there were no grand birthday celebrations when Modi turned 70 due to the pandemic.

In the past, his birthday was marked as "Seva Saptabut. The drive this year has been widened as "Seva our Samarpan Abhiyan," in tribute to service and dedication. This period will also include the birth anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi (October 2) and DeenDayal Upadhyay (September 25).

The campaign will focus on how Modi had handled the aftermath of the Bhuj earthquake and how he managed to create brands such as the Gujarat Model and Vibrant Gujarat. Five crores' Thank You Modiji' postcards will be mailed directly to PM Modi as a token of gratitude. 14 crore ration bags with Modi's picture will be distributed. Videos and documentaries will be shown projecting Modi as the Messiah of the poor. The list is long eulogizing the Prime Minister.

The pandemic has not gone. Then why these gala functions? Internationally, Modi has much to be pleased about. Morning Consult, a U.S. research firm recently has given Modi the highest approval rating among the global leaders with 70 per cent. He led the chart that tracked 12 other leaders. Japan's Yoshihide Suga came at the bottom.

No doubt the opposition, which is looking for an issue, has criticised this mega programme when people still suffer from Covid. They point out that covid is one of the significant failures of the Modi government, particularly the second wave, which took everyone unawares. The economy is down, and there is massive unemployment, inflation and price rise. So what is there to rejoice, they ask. That is why all these slogans thank Modi personally for the free ration, free vaccination etc. etc

Modi is aware of how much image building is necessary for a politician. Most importantly, elections are scheduled in half a dozen states, including U.P, early next year. The Party's election machinery has already been activated. These birthday celebrations will give a boost to the party cadres and prepare them to face the elections.

Further, these celebrations are intended to make Modi a cult figure through its parent organization, RSS, is against the cult culture. Many regional leaders practice personality cults, including Mamata Banerjee, Mayawati, Kejriwal, Lalloo Prasad Yadav, and others who have their own fiefdom. These little tinpot dictators coexist in a democracy with their personality cult, which is indeed a paradox.

Modi is presently in his mid-term in his second stint. Despite fulfilling most RSS- B.J.P. core agenda like revoking Article 370 and Building of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya, the covid has unexpectedly ruined all the B.J.P.'s plans for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Do his courtiers argue what is wrong with using the birthday as an occasion to project Modi as pro-poor? They contend that one should not grudge Modi his birthday bashes. After all, now it is clear Modi is B.J.P., and the B.J.P. is Modi and any damage to one will damage the other. Birthday bashes are indeed seen as a show of strength. (IPA Service)