City saw BJP, SP-Congress road shows and a BSP rally

Turning Varanasi into a political battleground, all the key players of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections converged on the city on Saturday in a competitive show of strength.

If Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off the day with a massive road show through the heart of Varanasi, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and U.P. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav responded with an equally impressive joint road show later in the day.

Not to be left behind, BSP chief Mayawati held a huge public meeting at Rohania, 20 km from the city centre.

Mr. Modi started his road show by garlanding the statue of BHU founder Madan Mohan Malviya at the university’s gate at Lanka. The cavalcade then passed through dense markets and residential localities, including Sonarpura and Madanpura — pockets with substantial Muslim and Bengali populations — before crossing the bustling Gowdolia, amid synchronized drums, and chants of ‘Modi, Modi’ and ‘Ghar, Ghar Modi’.

At some places, enthusiastic supporters also shouted, “Hindustan mein rehna hoga toh Modi, Modi kehna hoga (if you wish to stay in India, you must chant ‘Modi, Modi’).”

Mr. Modi then paid obeisance at two important temples —the Kashi Vishwanath Mandir and the temple of Lord Kaal Bhairav, also known as the guardian of the city.

The SP-Congress started their rally by garlanding the statue of Babasaheb Ambedkar at Kutchery. With a sea of supporters, the leaders then travelled atop a customized luxury bus at a snail’s pace towards important business and heritage areas of Nadesar, Chauka ghat, Doshipura, Golgadda, Peeli Kothi, Maidagin, Chowk, Gawdolia, before concluding at the Girijaghar crossing, which houses a church.

As with Mr Modi before them, Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, along with Dimple Yadav, too offered prayers at the Kashi Viswanath Temple.

Though the two parties started from different directions, several areas covered by their road shows overlapped. The acrimony between the two sides was apparent. If Congress supporters jeered at Modi’s cavalcade with slogans of “Feku Feku Feku” stones were pelted at the SP-Congress cavalcade when it passed Chauka ghat, where a minor scuffle also broke out between supporters of the BJP and the SP-Congress alliance.

Though Ms. Mayawati addressed a rally 20 km outside the city, she took a swipe at both the road shows, claiming that people at the events were mere “spectators.” She even claimed that the crowd at Mr. Modi’s road show comprised of hired performers from neighbouring districts.