BJP rally, a complete Modi show

A sea of people turned up at the National College grounds in Basavangudi to hear Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address.

With saffron flags fluttering all over the grounds, thousands braved the humid evening weather to hear Modi’s words. The BJP had organised the public rally with little or no glitches.

The dais had a galaxy of leaders from as many as six states. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis; his Rajasthan counterpart Vasudara Raje, Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel; Shivaraj Singh Chauhan and Lakshmikanth Parsekar - chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Goa respectively, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and Dr Nirmal Singh, the deputy chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir were present on the dais.

Apart from them, BJP patriarch L K Advani, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, BJP national president Amit Shah and others were also seen on the stage. However, only Shah delivered a short speech which was followed by Modi’s. Shah was compelled to cut short his speech as the crowd cheered loud demanding to hear Modi. “I can see that Modiji has arrived. I shall not take any time of yours, and shall not stand in the way of you (crowd) and him,” Shah said before concluding his speech. Earlier, the State BJP leaders used the platform to attack Siddaramaiah government for its ‘non-performance.

’ Terming Siddaramaiah’s sleeping disorder as “Niddhe Bhagya,” Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers Ananth Kumar said that the countdown for the Siddaramaiah regime had begun. He said the Congress had shown a lacklustre performance in the State and that it was the beginning of its end.

Leaders Jagadish Shettar and K S Eshwarappa also took the opportunity to recall the mysterious death of IAS officer D K Ravi and the ‘failure’ of the Congress regime. Immediately previous MLAs and MPs were invited for the dinner at the party’s National Executive meeting at Hotel Lalit Ashok.

They were greeted by party national president Amit Shah. Former legislators C M Udasi, M P Kumaraswamy, Murgesh Nirani, M P Renukacharaya, C C Patil, Yogish Bhat, Sogadu Shivanna, former MP G S Basavaraj among others attended the dinner.