- News>
- States
Modi`s Gaurav Yatra woos crowds with nationalism and regionalism
Ahmedabad, Nov 03: Children cheer loudly, youths jostle to shake hands with him and women shower flowers on him as he waves at them to the accompaniment of drums and trumpets.
Ahmedabad, Nov 03: Children cheer loudly, youths jostle to shake hands with him and women shower flowers on him as he waves at them to the accompaniment of drums and trumpets.
Vignettes from an Amitabh Bachchan roadshow? No. But
scenes from Chief Minister Narendra Modi's 'Gaurav Yatra' as
his juggernaut rolls on through rural Gujarat on its eighth
phase ahead of the crucial December 12 assembly elections.
Announcers hail him as the "pride of five crore Gujaratis" as Modi's DCM Toyota Convertible 'Rath' approaches motley crowds along the roadside in Anand, Khera and Ahmedabad districts. He dismisses small crowds with a wave of his hands, addresses medium crowds from the vehicle's rooftop using a hydraulic lift and large crowds from an inbuilt-stage which opens on the sideways of the vehicle. The vehicle comes to a screeching halt as it is stopped by little girls with 'mangal kalash' on their tender heads and sannyasins in saffron robes at Barthal - the birthplace of the founder of the influential Swaminarayan sect where the religious leaders present him with a cheque of Rs 1.5 crore.
"Can such a crowd be stage-managed,? he asked this PTI correspondent who accompanied him during the 'yatra', pooh-poohing the opposition allegations.
Modi, who has been widely criticised for his role in the post-Godhra violence, uses a heady mix of regionalism and nationalism to woo the crowds, charging Congress and "pseudo-secularists" with projecting Gujaratis as "killers and looters" and promising to teach Pakistanis a lesson their seven generations would remember.
Bureau Report
Announcers hail him as the "pride of five crore Gujaratis" as Modi's DCM Toyota Convertible 'Rath' approaches motley crowds along the roadside in Anand, Khera and Ahmedabad districts. He dismisses small crowds with a wave of his hands, addresses medium crowds from the vehicle's rooftop using a hydraulic lift and large crowds from an inbuilt-stage which opens on the sideways of the vehicle. The vehicle comes to a screeching halt as it is stopped by little girls with 'mangal kalash' on their tender heads and sannyasins in saffron robes at Barthal - the birthplace of the founder of the influential Swaminarayan sect where the religious leaders present him with a cheque of Rs 1.5 crore.
"Can such a crowd be stage-managed,? he asked this PTI correspondent who accompanied him during the 'yatra', pooh-poohing the opposition allegations.
Modi, who has been widely criticised for his role in the post-Godhra violence, uses a heady mix of regionalism and nationalism to woo the crowds, charging Congress and "pseudo-secularists" with projecting Gujaratis as "killers and looters" and promising to teach Pakistanis a lesson their seven generations would remember.
Bureau Report