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Rahul Gandhi gets a ‘shiv bhakt’ welcome in Amethi
As Rahul Gandhi’s cavalcade reached his Lok Sabha seat supporters started chanting “Bum Bum Bhole”, chanted “mantras” and blew conch shells.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who recently visited Kailash Mansarovar, reached his Lok Sabha constituency on Monday to a grand welcome, with supporters greeting him as a ‘Shiv Bhakt’, or a devotee of Lord Shiva.
As Gandhi’s cavalcade reached his Lok Sabha constituency, supporters started shouting ‘Bam Bam Bhole’ amidst the chanting of mantras and the blowing of conch shells.
Rahul performed prayers and met kanwariyas, pilgrims who walk to Haridwar each year from their respective villages and towns, to fetch holy water from the Ganges. The Congress party also tweeted a short video of the welcome and prayers.
About a hundred saffron-clad ‘kanwariyas’ assembled for the event as devotional music played out in the background. Posters had been put up in many parts of Amethi to welcome Rahul on his first visit to the constituency after his Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.
Earlier, Rahul landed at Amausi airport in Lucknow and drove straight to Amethi via Rae Bareli. Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president Raj Babbar and other senior leaders, besides partymen, welcomed him there.
During his visit to Bhopal last week, to launch the party’s campaign — Madhya Pradesh goes to the polls later this year — Rahul received a similar welcome from supporters. The BJP alleged that calling Rahul a “Shiv bhakt” was the part of Congress’s “soft Hindutva agenda” ahead of elections due in November
The Congress chief had announced his intention to undertake the pilgrimage after a mid-air scare when his plane plunged hundreds of feet during the Karnataka election campaign in April and left for Mt Kailash on August 31.
The pilgrimage was aimed at seeking the blessing of Lord Shiva for prosperity and success of the country and its people, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala had said.
During his two-day visit to Amethi, Gandhi will also take part in the district vigilance and monitoring committee meeting and hold talks with party leaders and workers.
