Varanasi: In a big show of strength in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra held a roadshow here Wednesday evening.
Priyanka Gandhi began the roadshow, which had a route similar to Modi’s jamboree last month, by garlanding the statue of Madan Mohan Malviya at the gates of the Banaras Hindu University. Modi had held a roadshow here on April 25, a day before he filed his nomination papers.
Priyanka Gandhi was accompanied by Congress’s Varanasi candidate Ajay Rai, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, senior party leader Rajiv Shukla and Savitri Bai Phoole — who recently joined the party after leaving the BJP. As the procession wound its way through the temple town, Priyanka Gandhi, who was dressed in a red saree, and the other leaders waved at the large crowd which had gathered on both sides of the roads.
While some onlookers compared her roadshow with that of Modi’s, Congress workers raised slogans against the prime minister. The local unit of the Congress had made elaborate arrangements to pull in the crowds for the roadshow, a party leader said.
Like Modi’s jamboree, Priyanka Gandhi’s roadshow also passed through all prominent places such as Assi Ghat, Lanka, Gadoliya and ended at Dashashwamedh Ghat. Thereafter, Priyanka Gandhi offered prayers at the Kanshi Vishawnath temple and met saints in the town. Later, she also visited the Kaal Bhairav temple in Kotwali area.
This was Priyanka Gandhi’s second visit to Varanasi since she was appointed Congress general secretary and in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh. She had last visited Varanasi in March for her ‘Ganga Yatra’ when she undertook a boat ride from Balua Ghat Ramnagar to Dashashwamedh Ghat.
