Express News Service
VARANASI: The biggest of the spectacles of these Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh was reserved for the last, and befittingly, for the ancient city of Varanasi. PM Narendra Modi was in his karmabhoomi on Friday, reconnecting with the locals through a roadshow with a Banarasi flavour, to drum up support for BJP candidates. As he wound up his mega show, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav held his own roadshow in another part of the city, as if challenging Modi’s charisma in his home ground.
After garlanding the statue of Sardar Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at Maldahiya crossing, the PM embarked on his roadshow. BJP supporters showered flower petals and chanted Jai Sri Ram slogans as the PM’s cavalcade inched its way through a sea of crowd. Standing in an open-roof vehicle, Modi waved to residents eagerly on rooftops and balconies to have a glimpse of the PM.
It took almost three hours for the PM’s motorcade to reach the Kashi Vishwwanath Dham Corridor, where he offered prayers Vishwanath Temple after playing the king size dumroo amid reverberating chants of Har Har Mahadev. Traversing through various areas of Varanasi north, south and cantt assembly segments, the PM ended his 8-km roadshow by garlanding the statue of Madan Mohan Malviya at Lanka Chowk. He also stopped in between to relish kulhad chai with BJP rank and file at the famous Pappu Tea Shop, which for long has been the adda for political gossip.
At Lahurabir, some devotees welcomed the PM by chanting hymns. And at Kabirchaura, people danced as devotional music played. Modi had begun his first roadshow in Varanasi from the same spot after filing his nomination papers for the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
The PM will wind up his Varanasi trip on Saturday — the last day for campaigning. Akhilesh, meanwhile, travelled 1.5 km between Rathyatra Crossing and Girjaghar Crossing, covering parts of Varanasi Cantt and South seats. Standing atop his ‘Samajwadi Rath’, Yadav began his roadshow from the Rath Yatra roundabout. The roadshow covered an area stretching about 2 km.
The roadshow saw enormous participation of people, especially from the minority communities who hold the sway in Varanasi South and Varanasi Cantt seats as well as adjoining Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Azamgarh, Bhadohi and Mau districts, all of which go to polls in the final phase on March 7.
