Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked upon a 26-km long roadshow in Bengaluru on Saturday May 6 morning. The roadshow began at Someshwara Sabha Bhavan, Konanakunte in Bommanahalli Assembly constituency around 10 a.m. It culminated at Kadu Malleshwara temple, in Malleswaram, at 1.30 p.m. after passing through 13 Assembly constituencies.
The event concluded one hour after the scheduled time of 12.30 p.m. Wearing a Mysuru Peta, Mr Modi greeted thousands of people who had gathered on either side of the roads along the route of the roadshow. Several groups of artistes welcomed him with traditional dance performances.
BJP leaders estimate that nearly 10 lakh people had gathered to catch a glimpse of Mr Modi. Several of them had been waiting on either side of the roads, behind barricades, from early morning. BJP workers showered flowers on Mr. Modi while he passed by an open jeep.
BJP sources said the party had organised over 40 tonnes of flowers for Saturday alone. Mr Modi was accompanied by members of Parliament Tejasvi Surya (Bengaluru South) and P. C. Mohan (Bengaluru Central) in the vehicle, along with his security personnel.
A large number of people thronged both sides of the road to catch a glimpse of the Prime Minister and showered flowers on him. The BJP flags, festoons and posters dotted the road and a group of artists performed ‘Dollu Kunita’, a popular drum dance, enroute to the roadshow.
Traffic snarls were witnessed due to the roadshow. Police had issued traffic advisory to people asking them to avoid certain roads from where the Prime Minister’s convoy would pass through. Elaborate security arrangements were made throughout the route from where Modi would take out his roadshow.
BJP has set up loudspeakers, along the route, which repeatedly played Mr. Modi raising slogans of ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and ‘Jai Bajrang Bali’. Several BJP workers and supporters had come dressed up as or wearing masks of lord Hanuman, in what they said was ‘an act of defiance against Congress promise to ban Bajrang Dal if they came to power’.
Meanwhile, after adverse reactions on social media over traffic restrictions in Bengaluru on account of plans for a 36-km roadshow through the city on Sunday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP announced that it would hold it over two days. Now, Modi covered the constituencies of Bengaluru Central on Saturday, between 10 am and 1 pm, and Bengaluru South on Sunday, from 10:30 pm to 2:30 pm.
Shobha Karandlaje, the convenor of the BJP’s state Election Management Committee, said they had taken the decision to split the roadshow after reports of “inconvenience to public” if Modi planned to cover the whole 36 km in one day.
