PM Modi's roadshow in Varanasi: Saffron sea as thousands throng on streets

Seeking to rally voters around the BJP in eastern Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday led a road-show through the winding roads of his Lok Sabha constituency here amid a huge crowd of supporters.

He also paid obeisance at two temples. The prime minister’s road-show was scheduled on a day when 49 constituencies went to the polls in the sixth phase of the state Assembly election. BJP leaders believe that the hours-long event, broadcast live on most of the regional TV news channels, will help their cause when the 40 remaining seats go to the polls in the final phase on March 8.

The road-show started from the Banaras Hindu University after Modi paid tributes to the statue of noted Hindutva ideologue Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya there.

People turned out in large numbers as the prime minister’s cavalcade moved at a snail’s pace. ‘Subah Banaras, sham Banaras; Modi tere naam Banaras’ and ‘Modi, Modi’ slogans were raised by the supporters as he waved at them.

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Modi later offered prayers at the Kashi Vishwanath and Kaal Bhairav temples, two foremost Hindu holy places in the ancient city.

The BJP, which is locked in a tight electoral battle in Uttar Pradesh with the SP-Congress alliance and the Mayawati-led BSP, hopes that a good performance in the eastern parts of the state will take it past the majority mark in the 403-member state Assembly.

The only other time Modi held a road-show here was in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls after he picked Varanasi as one of his seats. The BJP swept the 2014 polls in Uttar Pradesh, winning 73 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats, along with its ally Apna Dal.

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Three years later, the saffron camp is once again relying heavily on Modi to deliver the goods in Uttar Pradesh where it has been out of power for 15 years. It has organised many more public meetings of the prime minister than was anticipated earlier.

Quite a few public events of Modi are lined up in the region tomorrow and the day after, the final day of campaigning for the seventh and last phase of polling on March 8.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi are also holding a road-show in the city. BSP chief Mayawati too addressed a public rally at Rohaniya, around 20 kms from Varanasi.