Amritsar: This was probably the grand show – of power, strength and mass support - that Arun Jaitly had been eagerly waiting for. If he wins from Amritsar, he will owe it to Narendra Modi, who after a whirlwind rally in Varanasi, didn’t disappoint Jaitley and his supporters in Amritsar on Friday evening. And of course the cherry on top, was when the prime minister’s step-brother Daljeet Singh Kohli joined the BJP with a warm hug from Modi on the dais in the presence of Jaitley and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. That must have come as a major embarrassment for Manmohan Singh who had only yesterday denied in Guwahati that there was any Modi wave in the country, little realising that it was sweeping his own family away. As Modi hugged Kohli, party workers let out almost a victory cry of “Ab ki baar, Modi sarkaar.
(FirstPost)
It was an outright Modi affair in Amritsar. Along with the love, support and assurance from his followers and voters, Modi didn’t forget to take away home-made Amritsari cuisines away with him. The dinner pack that was delivered to him at the airport reportedly had Amritsari chole-kulche, chane bhature, yellow daal, chapati, Amritsari pulao, paneer butter masala, Amritsari lassi, rasgulla and phirni. “I got a call in the morning from Ahmedabad about this and got it cooked at home. Earlier also, when Modi ji visited here, he ensured to have these dishes at my place,” said BJP’s state general secretary Tarun Chugh, who is considered close to Modi. “We share a cordial relation at family level and he enjoys Amritsari cuisines,” he added. Apart from feeding the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, the city of the Golden Temple offered a rousing welcome to Modi when his convoy reached Ranjit Avenue from the airport. The venue wore a bridal look with BJP banners, flags and festoons flying high, and the atmosphere charged up with slogans hailing Modi. For the people of Amritsar it was a grand show. A crowd of nearly 50,000 people gathered at the venue. Amidst high-security, the SAD-BJP workers left no stone unturned to give a Modi stamp to the meeting, making it a grand gala affair. “For us it's a first-of-its kind in the City and the gathering proves the immense popularity and trust that Modi enjoys among masses. Even PM’s brother couldn’t keep himself away from Modi ji’s charisma,” a BJP worker from neighbouring tehsil Dhariwal said. Donning a yellow turban (saafa), with a black half jacket over a high collared full-sleeved white kurta, Modi resembled a traditional Sikh. Striking an emotional chord with the people of Amritsar who had eagerly been waiting to hear him since 4pm, Modi said, “Punajb ki jawani agar nahi bachi, to Hindustan ki jawani nahi bachegi" (If we can’t protect the youth of Punjab, the youth of India can’t be saved) This received massive applause from the crowds. “We now need a PM, who can display strong conviction like Modi. After a long time we’re able to see a ray of hope in him, who will be able to take tough decisions for our country,” said a group of youth, who had come from Batala to attend the meeting. The euphoria surrounding Modi’s arrival could also be seen during the day at several places across the city, especially among the young BJP workers, who were raising slogans while moving in open jeeps with party flags. A group of people savouring jalebi and gulab jaamun at a shop in Katra Ahluwalia – one of the oldest bazaars in Amritsar said, “We can’t let the UPA come to power again. The need of the hour is to have a strong leader at the Centre, who can’t take the country on the path of development, rather than indulging only in corruption.” “Nothing can be said right now as the contest between Jaitley and Amarinder would be a tough one and majority of voters are silent. Even if we want Modi to become the PM, BJP’s allying with the Akali Dal may dent the former’s winning prospect,” said Dharmendra Chourasia, a Pan shop owner at Hall Bazaar. On way back home from the Modi’s meet, the unanimous opinion was that Modi’s visit would definitely give Jaitley an edge over his Congress opponent, Captain Amarinder Singh. “This ‘maharaja’ tag of Amarinder creates a distance between him and the voters, and moreover before casting vote a voter should consider what the 10-year of the UPA government has given us – corruption, scams and a silent PM. The need of the hour is development that would ensure growth not only of India but Punjab as well,” said 65-year old Harish Mahajan, a city businessman, who had come to listen to Modi. The statement of Daljeet Singh Kohli -“I’ll accept whatever responsibility will be given to me by the party. My family is with me. The PM wasn’t given full authority to run the government”- was another feather in the cap of Narendra Modi in Amritsar.
