Who Lights the Lamp for What ।। ଦୀପ ଜାଳୁଛି କିଏ? ।। The Samata ।। Kedar Mishra

A crore lamps. A temple stage. And then — silence. The BJP turned Narendra Modi’s birthday into a lighting programme: Ashirbadara Deepa, Seva Sankalp, Mukteswar glowing with thousands of diyas, official claims of one crore lamps across Odisha. It began as fanfare — cameras, ministers, conches, a prayer packaged as public blessing. It ended as a gimmick. Outside the party machine, there was no festival. No spontaneous city. No opposition joining a “people’s blessing.” The crowd that mattered was the organised crowd: workers, scheme beneficiaries called in, leaders posing with a flame. When the oil dried, the political impact was small. The photographs were large. A democracy can wish a Prime Minister well. A ruling party cannot convert a birthday into a state ritual and then call the empty street “Janata’s love.” Spectacle is not consent. Light is not legitimacy. In this episode of The Samata, Kedar Mishra asks what this lighting programme actually achieved — besides a night of official theatre.If only the BJP was interested, whose blessing was it? Watch. Share. Say whether your neighbourhood lit a lamp — or just watched the news. Like the video. Subscribe to The Samata. Turn on the bell. #TheSamata #KedarMishra #ModiBirthday #AshirbadaraDeepa #SevaSankalp #BJP #MohanMajhi #PoliticalGimmick #Odisha #IndianPolitics #OdishaNews Samata — Voice of the people. Question power. Stand with the public.