New Delhi/Varanasi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi launched her party's campaign for the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election with a massive roadshow in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency Varanasi on Tuesday, but soon had to halt the event due to health concerns.
According to Congress sources, Gandhi was suffering from viral fever but had decided to go ahead with the roadshow as she was not inclined to cancel it at the last minute.
The roadshow, which continued for about three hours, was halted for sometime at the Lohurabir roundabout near the fag end of the eight-km march route from the Circuit House to Englishiya Line. The roadshow later proceeded without Gandhi.
Sources said Gandhi complained of uneasiness and after taking rest for sometime, she left the area. She had to cancel her planned visit to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in the evening to offer prayers.
"Saddened that due to my ill health, I had to cut my visit to Varanasi short. Couldn't visit Kashi Vishwanath Temple either. I will come back very soon, and then visit the Kashi Vishwanath Temple," Sonia told the media.
Modi reacted to the news of Sonia's ill health and prayed for her quick recovery.
"Heard about Sonia ji’s ill health during her Varanasi visit today. I pray for her quick recovery and good health," Modi tweeted.
Thousands of Congress supporters and workers had taken part in the roadshow from the Circuit House to Englishiya Line, a distance of about eight kilometres earlier on Tuesday.
The march began with Gandhi garlanding the statue of B R Ambedkar at the Circuit House and the marchers criss-crossed lanes and bylanes of the temple town.
Gandhi, who was initially travelling in a car and later moved to a vehicle with open sunroof, waved at the crowd which cheered and raised slogans against the Modi government.
She came out of her vehicle several times to accept the greetings of the cheering supporters, including groups of Muslim women. As the road show passed through several localities, rose petals were showered on Gandhi and her cavalcade from adjoining buildings.
Dozens of mini trucks prominently displayed posters with '27 Saal, UP Behaal' (27 years of UP's distress) written on them. Placards carried by hundreds of workers also had the same slogan written on them.
Besides the party's chief ministerial candidate Sheila Dikshit, AICC General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad, state party chief Raj Babbar and senior leaders Pramod Tiwari and Sanjay Singh accompanied Gandhi.
Congress has launched a campaign "dard-e-Banaras" to highlight lack of development in Varanasi, which Modi is representing for over two years in the Lok Sabha.
Congress has been out of power for 27 years in Uttar Pradesh and is projecting that the state has gone from bad to worse in these years through a campaign, called '27 Saal, UP Behaal'.
Varanasi is a key place in eastern Uttar Pradesh having some 160 of the 403 Assembly constituencies in the state.
Congress had only won two seats -- Amethi and Rae Bareli -- in 2014 Lok Sabha polls, while BJP and its ally Apna Dal secured 73 seats out of total 80.
The UP Assembly elections outcome will also have ramifications for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Poll strategist Prashant Kishor has been roped in by Congress to assist the UPCC in the Assembly polls. Kishor had planned the campaign strategy of Modi in Lok Sabha polls and Nitish Kumar in the Bihar Assembly polls.
