UP elections 2017: BJP's Amit Shah addressing during poll campaign in Allahabad on Tuesday.
Highlights
- Amit Shah traveled atop bus draped with marigold flowers, drew big crowds
- Akhilesh Yadav, Rahul Gandhi too drew as big a crowd for their roadshow
- Campaigning ends for the fourth phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections
Women in "BJP saris" were among the thousands who packed the lanes of Allahabad as party chief Amit Shah's roadshow wound its way down 10 km on the last day of campaigning for the
fourth phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections. Just a street away, Chief Minister
Akhilesh Yadav and his ally Rahul Gandhi drew as big a crowd for their roadshow. It was pegged as a clash of the titans.
Amit Shah traveled atop a bus draped with strings of marigold along with other BJP leaders as party workers chanted slogans like
Jai Shri Ram and
Har Har Modi. At one point the BJP chief blew a conch. This was the BJP's attempt to consolidate the upper caste Hindu vote.
On another truck, always about a km away on a similar route, stood Akhilesh Yadav and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi. They drew a distinctly younger crowd and big speakers played slogans set to Bollywood tunes. "
UP ko Akhilesh pasand hai, (UP wants Akhilesh)" was a favourite.
UP elections 2017: Supporters of Samajwadi Party during a road show of Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi in Allahabad.
In Allahabad, where there are 12 assembly seats, the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance is looking at drawing the Muslim-Yadav vote. Two days before polling, it is all down to getting the caste and community balance right.
"You cannot take caste and religion out of UP elections," said the BJP's new import from the Congress, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, as she prepped for the party chief's rally. For her ex-boss Rahul Gandhi, just a km away, she had this message, "the Congress will be decimated. It's pity that it will take down with it Akhilesh Yadav too."
The BJP's extra effort here comes from the fact that though it had won both the parliamentary seats in Allahabad in the national election three years ago, in the 2012 assembly election it had won not a single of the 12 seats. The Samajwadi Party had won eight, Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party had won three and the Congress one.
The women in the BJP saris - in the BJP colours and with its lotus symbol on them - were meanwhile thrilled with their fashion statement. "It is the Modi sarkar's roadshow, they said walking alongside Amit Shah's truck. And who gave them the saris? "Modi sarkar did," they said in a chorus.
UP is voting in seven phases. Votes will be counted on March 11.
UP elections 2017: Women at Amit Shah's rally in Allahabad were seen wearing BJP saris with a lotus symbol on them.