A sea of crowd flooded the entire 5-km stretch parallel to the Ganga during the mega roadshow of Prime Minister Narendra Modi Varanasi on Thursday. Chants of ‘Modi Modi’ rented the air as Modi, dressed in saffron, reached near the main gate of Banaras Hindu University (BHU).
After garlanding the statue of Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya in Lanka market, Modi waved to the supporters after which the convoy moved ahead, taking almost half an hour to reach the other corner of the market near Sant Ravidas Gate. The roadshow then passed via the narrow yet packed bylanes to reach the Assi Ghat crossing where huge number of people had gathered. People showered rose petals from their rooftops as the roadshow moved forward.
The route of the roadshow was selected by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) keeping in mind certain things to send across a strong message among the rivals. In Lanka, there were huge crowds of BHU students and youths and as the roadshow passed through Assi, which is famous for its political consciousness, the scene was different. After passing through areas dominated by South Indians and Bengalis in Shivala and Sonarpura, there was no space on the roads.
As the roadshow reached near Assi, the PM was greeted with artis by groups of women. Amidst tight security arrangements, the roadshow passed through Sonarpura, Pandey Haveli and Muslim-dominated Madanpura. In Madanpura, the cops kept a close eye from the rooftops even as the darkness increased after sunset. It is also an important area of the famous Banarasi saree industry which has seen a lot of changes in the last five years.
After Janghambadi, the roadshow reached the soul of the city at Godowlia which was cordoned off to stop the flow of crowd. Later, the roadshow passed through Dashaswamedh road to reach the historic ghat where Modi reached for the grand ‘Ganga Aarti’.
Modi’s car was followed by a vehicle occupied by senior leaders, including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union minister JP Nadda, state BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey and others.
At Dashaswamedh Ghat, BJP president Amit Shah and Union minister Piyush Goyal were present to welcome the PM. Modi will file his nomination papers from Varanasi on Friday and his nomination procession will be taken out after he garlands the statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at Maldahiya crossing. It is the same place from where he took out his nomination procession in 2014.
Earlier, right from the afternoon, it was a festival-like situation in the city as thousands of people started gathering on the roads from BHU’s main gate up to Dashaswamedh Ghat despite scorching heat. All the main markets were decked up with flowers, lights, BJP flags, and banner/posters.
