E-Paper
Rain fails to dampen Holi spirit in Gorakhpur
EARLY MORNING rain and the BJP?s appeal failed to dampen the Holi spirit in Gorakhpur. People celebrated the festival of colours with gusto on Wednesday. Contrary to all apprehensions about violence, the historic Narsingh Bhawan procession passed off peacefully. Led by BJP MP Yogi Adityanath, it passed through various routes.
EARLY MORNING rain and the BJP’s appeal failed to dampen the Holi spirit in Gorakhpur. People celebrated the festival of colours with gusto on Wednesday.
Contrary to all apprehensions about violence, the historic Narsingh Bhawan procession passed off peacefully. Led by BJP MP Yogi Adityanath, it passed through various routes.
The festive spirit gripped people of all ages soon after burning of Holikas on Tuesday night. In the morning, armed with pichkaris and balloons filled with water, they emerged from their houses, sprinkled colour and applied gulal on one another.
The district administration had made elaborate security arrangements for the occasion. The city was divided in 12 sectors and the Holi procession route was dotted with police and para-military personnel.
Rapid Action Force jawans followed the processions. Provincial Armed Constabulary personnel were deployed at each crossing.
At Ghasi Katra crossing, local people played Holi with flowers and distributed sweets to each other.
The administration has deployed one and a half sections of the PAC each at Madarsa crossing, Laldiggi crossing, Ghasikatra, Karbala and Jafra Bazaar.
The administration heaved a sigh of relief after the procession reached Gorakhnath temple around 1 pm.
Revellers danced to the beats of Nagadas, while some youths swayed to film songs. Holi Milan and other cultural programmes were continuing in the city.
Minor incidents of scuffle were reported from Qazipur Khurd and Sumer Sagar.
But, heavy deployment of policemen prevented the situation from taking an ugly turn. Miscreants pelted autospare parts shops of a particular community with stones in the evening, but peace-loving people quickly brought the situation under control. Police patrolling was intensified in these areas.
