Lucknow awash with saffron as Rajnath’s poll chariot rolls

LUCKNOW A nearly 120-minute power-packed road show for the nomination of defence minister Rajnath Singh, which featured UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath and his Uttarakhand counterpart Pushkar Singh Dhami, several Muslims and a nearly a kilometer-long motorised-chariot-led motorcade, was part of the grand spectacle the BJP showcased to indicate its clout in Lucknow Lok Sabha constituency on Monday.

‘Vikas Rath’ was written on Rajnath’s motorised chariot, and most of his big- ticket initiatives for Lucknow, including revamped airport, flyovers, roads and other infra projects, were mentioned on lotuses – the BJP’s election symbol.

Unmindful of the scorching heat, enthusiastic cadres kept clapping and raising slogans all along the nearly 2.5 km-route to the collectorate for filing nominations for the Lok Sabha seat, an erstwhile Congress bastion that since 1991, when BJP’s charismatic leader late Atal Bihari Vajpayee began contesting from the seat, has emerged as an impregnable BJP fortress.

Despite being present on the same motorised chariot, Union minister of state for housing and urban affairs Kaushal Kishore, the sitting MP from adjoining Mohanlalganj Lok Sabha seat, who also filed his nomination, almost got lost in the ‘Rajnath wave’, as the nomination day chariot had two sitting CMs, as many deputy CMs, senior BJP functionaries, ministers and more.

After quick prayers at the Shiv temple, Rajnath and Kishore, along with UP and U’Khand CMs climbed the chariot, with deputy CMs Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak to witness a virtual saffron wave.

Rajnath is pitted against Samajwadi Party-Congress’s joint nominee Ravidas Mehrotra and BSP’s Sarvar Malik.

As supporters and cadres lined up on both sides of the BJP office, chief minister Yogi Adityanath. while expressing appreciation at the excitement among the cadres and masses, also issued instructions from the chariot to police officers to ensure that the nomination motorcade didn’t get stuck amid the sea of supporters.

“Get the roads cleared,” Adityanath was heard directing the police officers as the road show began crawling amid chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Modi-Yogi-Rajnath zindabad’ from the cadre – every now and then. Some Muslim women also made their presence felt as Rajnath, Adityanath and Dhami, who also held up placards showcasing BJP’s election symbol ‘lotus flower’, kept showering petals on the crowd which responded with even more intense chants in BJP’s support.

“Lucknow has never had a Hindu-Muslim issue. We have been voting for BJP in the Lok Sabha polls since Atal ji’s days, and now with the BJP government impartially extending benefits of government schemes to all poor, I think the community’s faith in the BJP has grown,” said Ayesha Saeed, 55, a woman from Aishbagh who said she had come for the nomination along with her husband Imran on the invite of the BJP’s minority wing.

The chariot took intermittent halts – the first one being outside the Hazratganj Hanuman temple, surrounded by a layer of security personnel who walked all the way to guard its VIP travellers. It crawled even afterwards as every now and then a fresh batch of cadres and commoners arrived with their clapping-slogan shouting act.

“Lucknow ki hain bas yahi pukar, abki baar 5 lakh paar (this time Lucknow will ensure BJP wins by over 5 lakh votes),” went one slogan in support of Rajnath whose victory margins have been increasing since 2014 when he first won the seat. In 2014, Rajnath had won the seat against Congress’ Rita Bahuguna Joshi by a margin of 2.72 lakh votes.

But in 2019, he set a record of sorts by winning against Poonam Sinha, wife of actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha who contested as the joint SP-BSP candidate by a margin of 3.47 lakh votes, pushing Congress’ Pramod Krishnam to third spot.

This is the highest victory margin ever in the constituency that has since 1951 been associated with some illustrious leaders. Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, who had studied at Lucknow University before moving to the hill state, credited Rajnath with carrying forward “Atal ji’s” development mission.

“Lucknow has developed tremendously as Rajnath ji has ably carried forward the development vision of Atal ji. The changing face of Lucknow is all too visible...the state capital boasts of a network of flyovers, metro rail, brilliant infrastructure and there is no doubt about the outcome on this seat or our push for 400-plus seats nationally,” said Dhami.

“Rajnath ji’s win is certain as all his opponents would forfeit deposit. There is no contest, the only thing that is undecided still is the nature of victory margin,” said former deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma, now the Rajya Sabha MP, who was present for the nominations.