Backed by a encouraging crowd ather roadshow in PM’s constituency Varanasi on Tuesday, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi kickstarted her party’s party poll campaign for the 2017 Assembly polls on Tuesday.
Sonia’s impressive roadshow has left hervals, especially the ruling Samajwadi Party frowning. What must have worried the SP mandarins was the unprecedented participation of people from Muslim-dominated areas.
The mammoth roadshow, which witnessed Sonia Gandhi leaning out of her SUV accepting and exchanging plesantaries with all and sundry along the long stretch, had to be suspended as humidity took its toll on the Congress president as the rally neared the lahurabir area. After resting at a hotel for almost an hour, Sonia decided to call off the roadshow and also the scheduled darshan at Kashi Vishwanath temple. She chose to return to the airport without garlanding the statue of Congress stalwart Pt Kamalapati Tripathi at Inglishialine.
Earlier around 1120 am, Sonia Gandhi reached the lal Bahadur Shastry international airport in Babatpur and her motorcade headed for the Circuit House. As per schedule, the Congress chief was to start her roadshow from Circuit House but it began right from the airport as she was accorded warm welcome by people and party workers on a nearly 20 km stretch between the airport and Circuit House.
As soon as, Sonia’s motorcade came out of the airport campus, party workers in thousands led by lone party MlA from Varanasi Ajay Rai accorded a warm welcome to the leader. Similar scenes greetedthe Congress chief on the entire route and workers and curous onlookers lined up along both sides of the road on the stretch.
On her arrivig at Circuit House, Congress Sewa Dal members accorded a guard of honor to the party chief. Afterresting for a while there for a few minutes, Sonia’s roadshow began fromteh Circuit House around 2.00 pm and she was accompanied by UP in-charge Gulam Navi Azad, state chief Raj Babbar, party’s CM face Sheila Dikshit and Chairman of poll campaign committee Sanjay Singh.
Flanked by leaders and workers in thousands, Sonia waved to the people and reached the Kutchery crossing where she offered petals at the statue of Dr Ambedkar. However, she ‘forgot’ top pay obeisance to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, located a few yards away. As the motorcade moved forward, Congress workers joined the roadshow in large numbers. As Sonia’s roadshow reached Raja Bazar - a Muslim dominated area, the Congres leader was accorded a warm welcome and the women showered petals on her from rooftops. There was unprecedented turn out of people, as the motorcade reached Nakkhi Ghat area after passing through Ghousabad and Chowkaghat with Muslim women lining up on both sides of road. This forced the Congress chief to lean out of her SUV and greet them. There, people in thousands came in fornt of her vehicle to havea dekko up close and shake hands which Sonia happily obliged. The Congress roadshow was unpredented in the snese that such huge and entusiastic turnout of people was never seen in any road show in Alaipura and Pilikothi - both Muslim dominated areas.
After crossing the lahurabir area, Sonia was taken ill and she hadto rest at a hotel. A doctor attended attended on her and advised her not to continue with the roadshow. On medical advice, Sonia chose to end the roadshow and drove to the aiprort before flying offf to Delhi.