Narendra Modi’s Bollywood band is set to add another name with actor Anil Kapoor being invited as chief guest for the opening day of Dev Dipawali, a month-long event that kicks off this week on the Ganga’s ghats in the Prime Minister’s parliamentary constituency Varanasi.

Sushant Mishra, president of the Ganga Sewa Nidhi (Ganga Service Fund), one of the organisers of the two-decade-old event, said the actor had agreed to attend the November 23 inauguration.

“Devotees from across the world who flock to Varanasi to see this event would pledge to keep the Ganga clean,” Mishra, who is also a panda (priest), told reporters in Varanasi on Tuesday.

Uttar Pradesh government sources said that while it used to be a local event till last year, the Yogi Adityanath dispensation has decided to support this year’s Dev Dipawali in various ways, including with funds.

“We have sanctioned Rs 50 lakh for the tourism department, which in turn has asked the organisers to work according to the government’s plan. While the chief minister and governor Ram Naik are expected to attend the programme, the presence of Anil Kapoor with them would be enough indication for voters in Varanasi,” a source in the chief minister’s office said.

“Amitabh Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Akshay Kumar and many other actors are with us (the BJP) directly or indirectly. Kapoor would further strengthen the band,” the source said.

The chief minister, he added, has asked officials to invite observers from the Guinness World Records too for the event that would see hundreds of priests perform aartis for hours along the banks of the holy river.

A Guinness team had been invited to the Ayodhya Deepotsav on November 6, when over three lakh lamps were lit. The team is in the process of studying and reviewing the Deepotsav event before they list it as a world record.

The Adityanath government has been gradually taking over the responsibility of organising religious events that had been started by local people in places like Mathura, Allahabad, Ayodhya, Varanasi and Vindhyachal.

Sources said most of the organisers of these events were BJP supporters keen to tap voter sentiments ahead of next year’s general election.

Dev Dipawali had been started two decade ago by two socio-religious organisations — the Ganga Sewa Nidhi at Dashswamedh Ghat and the Gangotri Sewa Samiti at Shitala Ghat in Varanasi. As its popularity grew, some other groups in the city followed suit at over a dozen other big ghats along the Ganga.

It starts on Kartik Purnima (full moon) day, which falls on November 23 this year. Legend has it that Lord Vishnu emerged from the Ganga in the form of Matsyavatar (in the guise of a fish) on this day and rescued the Vedas.

Lord Shiva is also believed to have killed on this day three demon brothers collectively called Tripurasura, prompting the gods to descend from heaven and celebrate Dev Dipawali.