Maa Ganga called me to Varanasi: Modi

BJP’s prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi put up a grand show in the temple town of Varanasi as he filed his nomination papers on Thursday.

He invoked “Maa Ganga” seeking to galvanise support in the Hindi heartland in his bid to steer BJP to power, says PTI. “After coming here, I felt nobody has sent me nor have I come here. I am here because Maa Ganga has called me. I feel like a small child on mother’s lap. I pray to God to give me the strength so that I can serve this city,” said Modi.

Thousands thronged the roadshow held by the BJP leader, while he inched his way towards the collectorate. BJP leaders claimed that over 3,00,000 people were present at the roadshow. The crowds that included a large number of saffron party workers, chanted slogans hailing Modi as the latter made several halts en route.

Modi, however, had to wait for a while since it was the last day for filing nominations and several candidates were present to complete the formalities.

Modi was accompanied by senior leaders, including  Amit Shah and Ravi Shankar Prasad.

The Gujarat chief minister also garlanded the statues of Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya and Swami Vivekananda.

Dr Girdhar Malviya, grandson of Madan Mohan Malviya, and noted classical singer Channulal Mishra, who were among the proposers, were also present. The entire city of Varanasi came to a standstill during the roadshow. Though the distance from Maldahiya, from where the roadshow started, to the collectorate, was not much, it took Modi three hours to reach the destination.

Meanwhile, in a controversial development, Samajwadi Party (SP) workers washed Malviya’s statue claiming that it had become impure after Modi had garlanded it.