Petal showers, garlands greet J P Nadda in Gaya roadshow

Gaya: As enthusiastic BJP supporters showered petals, BJP national president J P Nadda returned flowers and garlands during his hour-long roadshow in Gaya on Tuesday.Flanked by Gaya Town candidate Prem Kumar and Bodh Gaya NDA candidate Shyam Deo Paswan (LJP-RV), Nadda conducted the show through a carefully chosen route starting from the world-famous Vishnupad temple.

Before starting the roadshow, Nadda and others offered prayers in the Vishnupad temple.Accompanied by drum-beating men, women wearing saffron attire and dancing youngsters, the roadshow passed through areas dominated by the BJP supporters. The 4-km route included Chand Churaha, Ram Sagar, Pir Mansoor, GB Road and Tekari Road. It culminated at Bata Mor, a short distance away from the Gaya railway station.Men and women watched the show from rooftops and balconies all along the route.

Low hanging electric cables played the spoilsport in several localities as Nadda and others had to lower their heads to dodge the dangerously hanging cables.Low-hanging electric cables are hazardous to the city dwellers and the South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited (SBPDCL) officials express helplessness on the alibi that there was not enough space available in busy areas to insert more poles to straighten the cables.

Party workers carried long sticks and bamboos on the van to raise the height of cables to make things less inconvenient for the leader. Despite occasional head bowing exercises to beat the cables, Nadda kept on smiling all along the route.The roadshow is being regarded as crucial as the Gaya town MLA and cooperative minister Prem Kumar is engaged in one of the toughest electoral battles in his nearly four decades old political career.Prem, the eight-time winner of the seat, is being challenged by Akhauri Onkar Nath of the Congress. In 2020, unlike his previous victories with huge margins, Prem won the seat by a relatively moderate margin of about 10,000 votes.This time the entry of Jan Suraaj candidate Dhirendra Agrawal, a resourceful industrialist, has made the election more challenging for Prem as both he and Agrawal bank on the same vote block.Nadda is the tallest BJP leader who has campaigned for Prem. PM Modi is unlikely to campaign in Gaya this time as he held a meeting in Nawada and would be holding his second and last election meeting in Aurangabad tentatively scheduled for Nov 7. Defence minister Rajnath Singh, who is scheduled to campaign in Wazirganj on Wednesday, is not likely to campaign for Prem.