Varanasi: Election fever in Varanasi is reaching its peak, with only hours to go before the frenzied campaign that the holy city witnessed in the past few weeks comes to an end on Saturday evening. Hours after BJP PM candidate Narendra Modi brought the temple city to a grinding halt on Thursday, it was AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal’s turn to flex his muscles on Friday.
On Saturday, the city is all set to witness Rahul Gandhi’s roadshow. Mr Gandhi is expected to kick off his 6-km roadshow at around 8.15 am from Gol Gadda. Later on Saturday, UP CM Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav, are likely to do the same to whip up support for the SP.
On Friday, Mr Kejriwal ventured out for his roadshow, that started at Lanka and wound through the city to end at Town Hall. The roadshow made it evident that Mr Kejriwal and his white-capped AAP army had stood their ground and would provide a strong challenge to the saffron titan. The entire 7.5-km stretch covered by Mr Kejriwal turned white with AAP caps and flags. In some areas, women and children waited with garlands to welcome that “honest man”. In Muslim belts the crowds swelled further, making it clear that a large chunk of the 3.5-lakh Muslim vote could go into the AAP’s kitty.
Emboldened by the crowd, Mr Kejriwal declared “Mr Modi is losing the Varanasi election”. But whatever the final outcome, the BJP is in no mood to take Mr Kejriwal’s challenge lightly. As the huge AAP procession snaked its way through, BJP supporters could be seen waving saffron flags and making a desperate bid to drown the AAP roar with chants of “Har Har Modi”.
