Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi's posters Flood Patna Streets during Nitish Swearing-in

PATNA: Congress on Friday apparently stamped its authority on Mahagathbandhan show by plastering the city with big hoardings and posters of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party’s vice-president Rahul Gandhi.
Though JD(U), RJD and Samajwadi Party also put up posters of their netas along the main roads through which the VIPs had to cross, the big hoardings and posters of Sonia and Rahul outnumbered them.
Besides putting up posters of Sonia, Rahul on almost all poles on the Bailey Road, Fraser Road, Airport Road, Sadaquat Ashram Road, Boring Canal Road and around the sprawling Gandhi Maidan, the Congress also erected 22 “welcome arches” at strategic locations in the city. Such arches were not erected by any other party.
“Wherever we went in the city, we found big posters of Sonia and Rahul. The posters of CM Nitish Kumar, RJD boss Lalu Prasad and other grand alliance leaders were very less in numbers compared to Congress’s posters. The Congress workers had decorated the city roads in such a way that it was giving an impression that Rahul Gandhi is coming to take oath as CM,” said a senior mediaperson.
State Congress spokesperson Vinod Singh Yadav said his party had ordered 75 big hoardings and 250 medium size flex posters of Rahul Gandhi and almost similar number of Sonia Gandhi. These posters were put up during Thursday night on all the roads through which Rahul and other top party leaders like Mallikarjun Kharge and Meira Kumar had to pass through during their stay in the state capital.
“We had also booked 22 band parties. Each band party comprising 10 to 12 persons were stationed at 22 welcome arches. Party workers led by senior office-bearers welcomed Rahulji by ‘spraying’ rose petals on him near the welcome arches,” Yadav told TOI. He said the party had bought 300 kg of rose petals to welcome Rahul.
Sadaquat Ashram, the state Congress headquarters, was also lit up with decorative lights. Big posters of Jawahar Lal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi were put up on each pillar and wall of the Congress office.