Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves to supporters during a road show for the Karnataka Assembly elections, in Bengaluru on May 6, 2023.
Wearing a Mysuru Peta, Mr Modi greeted thousands of people who had gathered on either side of the roads along the route of the roadshow. Several groups of artistes welcomed him with traditional dance performances.
BJP leaders estimate that nearly 10 lakh people had gathered to catch a glimpse of Mr Modi. Several of them had been waiting on either side of the roads, behind barricades, from early morning. BJP workers showered flowers on Mr. Modi while he passed by an open jeep.
BJP sources said the party had organised over 40 tonnes of flowers for Saturday alone. Mr Modi was accompanied by members of Parliament Tejasvi Surya (Bengaluru South) and P. C. Mohan (Bengaluru Central) in the vehicle, along with his security personnel.
BJP has set up loudspeakers, along the route, which repeatedly played Mr. Modi raising slogans of ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and ‘Jai Bajrang Bali’. Several BJP workers and supporters had come dressed up as or wearing masks of lord Hanuman, in what they said was ‘an act of defiance against Congress promise to ban Bajrang Dal if they came to power’.
A BJP supporter dressed as Lord Hanuman arrives for the road show of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bengaluru on May 6, 2023.
The roadshow was expected to conclude by 12.30 p.m. However, an hour-and-a-half into the roadshow, Mr Modi had not gone beyond Jayanagar, raising the possibility that it will last much longer than planned, a senior police official said.
Most of the roads in south Bengaluru were deserted on Saturday morning, as people preferred to remain indoors. However, at many places where roads have been blocked, commuters were seen having bitter tiffs with traffic policemen, taking objection to roads being blocked for VVIPs.