Belief in the ephemeral divine seems to have a clear edge over the faith in democracy, else political parties wouldn’t have made a beeline for temples, assorted mandals and samitis, promising their members the moon, sometimes even dangling promises of a pathway to heaven by voting for a particular candidate. If polls happen to coincide with religious festivals, all the better, because then shobhayatras and prabhat pheris can be deftly converted into padyatras for election campaigning.

Thus, as Mumbai goes to vote on Wednesday, it is natural for candidates dashing to the ganeshotsav mandals dotting the city and trying to convert pious bhakts into devoted voters. After all, as cultural anthropologist Raminder Kaur Kahlon points out, since the 1890s, Ganpati has been a “mobilised festival”, with a “political career” of its own.