The Yogi Adityanath government has appealed to Varanasi residents to keep their Diwali lamps burning till Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the city on Monday, prompting the Opposition to allege a political gimmick.

According to the Congress, the idea is to showcase even a limited degree of compliance as an indication that Modi would be re-elected from Varanasi, where the party claims his popularity has taken a hit.

Ajay Rai, who was the Congress candidate against Modi in 2014, suggested that if enough residents didn’t comply, the state government would assign its own employees to light lamps in front of Hindu homes.

Adityanath did not make the appeal directly when he was in Varanasi on Thursday to review the arrangements for Modi’s visit, restricting his itinerary only to meetings with government officials and local BJP leaders.

But a statement issued by the state information and publicity department said: “The chief minister has told the residents of Kashi that the Prime Minister would give them his biggest gift (in the shape of) development projects worth Rs 2,500 crore.

“He (Adityanath) has appealed to the residents of Kashi to maintain the Diwali decorations at their homes till November 12 and light lamps in front of their houses to celebrate the occasion (Modi’s visit).”

Rai claimed the BJP had realised that it might not be smooth sailing for Modi from his parliamentary constituency this time and had therefore resorted to such “gimmickry”.

“Varanasi has been angry with the Prime Minister ever since north Indians were beaten up and thrown out of Gujarat,” he said.

Thousands of north Indian migrants had fled Gujarat early in October in the face of mob violence after a labourer from Bihar was accused of raping a baby in Sabarkantha district. After returning home, some of the migrants from eastern Uttar Pradesh had organised protests against Modi in Varanasi, demanding he quit the constituency.

State Congress spokesperson Dwijendra Tripathi said the state government’s appeal to keep the Diwali lamps burning suggested that Adityanath didn’t care about air pollution.

“All that he cares about is an assurance from the people that Modi would win again. It’s proof that the government and the BJP fear the Prime Minister will lose. Yogi wants to measure the Prime Minister’s credibility by counting lamps,” he said.

State government sources said Adityanath had asked local officials to decorate all the roads and big buildings along the routes that Modi’s convoy would take.

Modi will inaugurate 10 projects, including a four-lane road between Varanasi city and the Babatpur airport, a terminal for the Varanasi-to-Haldia waterway project, and a sewage treatment plant. He will also lay the foundation stones for seven projects related to drinking water, roads and beautification of the city.