BENGALURU:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a massive roadshow on Sunday (May 7) in Bengaluru which passed through several Assembly constituencies. The first part of this roadshow was held on Saturday covering around 13 constituencies and now the second leg is taking place on Sunday as part of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) campaigning for the May 10 Karnataka Assembly polls 2023.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in the poll bound state for the final leg of poll campaigning on Friday. The 10-km roadshow was held between 10:00 am and 11:30 am from Kempegowda statue at Thippasandra to Trinity circle. Lakhs of people took part in the roadshow.
Keeping NEET examinations in mind, the Karnataka BJP made changes in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day roadshow in Bengaluru, ahead of the Assembly polls in the state, by scheduling an extensive event on May 6 and a shorter one on May 7, Union Minister of State Shobha Karandlaje said on Friday. The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) is scheduled on May 7 (Sunday).
“Narendra Modi’s road show will be on May 6 and 7, preparations are on for it. We had shared information in that regard to the public through the press. However, you (media) people informed us about the NEET exams on May 7 at 2:00 pm, and the 26 km roadshow will cause inconvenience for (students writing) exams,” Karandlaje said. Speaking to reporters, she said, this was brought it to the notice of the Prime Minister, and Modi who pays special attention to children with initiatives such as ‘Pariksha pe Charcha’, asked us to ensure that no inconvenience is caused to even a single student going to the exam centre at any cost.
So the Prime Minister directed the state BJP to make changes in the programme, she said, as desired by him, certain changes have been made in the programme.
The roadshow, earlier scheduled to be held for eight hours on Saturday alone, was then split into two parts- on Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 1. 30 pm to prevent inconvenience to the general public in case the rally is held for a full day.
Accusing the Congress of conspiring to disrupt the roadshow on Saturday, by getting the ambulances linked to their workers and well-wishers or hospitals run by them, at places along the stretch of 26 km which the PM is likely complete in about 3 hours, Karandlaje said, they have conspired to bring a bad name to the Prime Minister’s roadshow.
“We have requested the police to ensure that ambulances with patients reach the hospitals on time without any hindrance, we have also discussed with SPG in this regard. We are following up things,” she said.
Earlier on April 29 (Saturday), Mr. Modi had conducted a 5.3-kilometre long roadshow in Bengaluru that passed through various locations in the city including Magadi Road, Nice Road Junction and Sumanahalli. On May 7, Mr. Modi will also address four public meetings in different parts of the state. Mr. Modi is also expected to visit Karnataka on the last day of the election campaigning for which preparations are already on.
The Congress party had appealed to the Election Commission not to permit the roadshow of PM Modi. However, the Commission has given a green signal. The ruling BJP is hoping to recover from the anti-incumbency factor with PM Modi’s visit. The Bajrang Dal ban proposal has also helped the BJP to gain grounds at the fag end of election campaigning in Karnataka. The BJP has challenged Congress to ban Bajrang Dal and claimed that it has “insulted” Lord Hanuman. The party also aims to wrestle a major chunk of 28 seats of Bengaluru city with Mr. Modi’s outreach to voters.
