Hindutva is set to be back on agenda during BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi rally in Gorakhpur on January 23.

Party MP Yogi Aditynath is supervising the preparations for the rally, for which the main stage, from where Modi will address the gathering stage, will come up in the shape the Gorakhnath temple. “The stage will be given the shape of Gorakhnath temple. Photographs of Guru Gorakshnath, Mahavir Jain, Sant Kabir and Gautam Budhha will form the backdrop of the stage,” Adityanath, who is also the head priest of Gorakhnath temple, told PM-Modi.

Guru Gorakshnath is believed to be an incarnation of lord Shiva and the temple dervies its name from him. A picture of freedom fighter Ram Prasad Bismil will also be put up on the stage. The cultural heritage of Poorvanchal will be displayed through replicas in the rally, Adityanath said. The preparations for the programme have been launched in such way that devotees visiting the temple for Khichdi Mela starting January 14 could also be roped in for the rally. To a query, Adityanath said that BJP had never left the agenda of Hindutva. “Hindutva is symbol of nationalism and carrying it forward is not a crime,” he said, adding that people from all sections of society will take part in the rally.

The rally will be held at Maanbela ground of Gorakhpur Development Authority (GDA). Party is expecting a crowd of 5 lakh people from 13 Lok Sabha constituencies of Gorakhpur region. Party currently has only three MPs in the region, including from Gorakhpur, Azamgarh and Bansgaon. Out of 62 Assembly constituencies of the region, BJP had won only eight in 2012 elections.