Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sporting the Mysuru Peta, conducted a roadshow along the traditional Dasara procession route in Mysuru on Sunday as part of the ongoing campaign in a bid to shore up BJP’s vote share and seats in the South Karnataka region.
The Prime Minister’s roadshow was also part of the BJP’s strategy of launching a blitzkrieg to bombard the voters in the Mysuru-Mandya-Chamarajanagar belt with the party’s achievements where it was yet to make deep inroads. Out of the 22 seats in the belt, the BJP won four in the 2018 elections, and the party’s efforts to win a majority in the State hinges on its performance in the South Karnataka region which is the bastion of the Congress and the Janata Dal (S).
The Prime Minister’s Mysuru event --- which commenced at 6.30 p.m. and took about 75 minutes --- was different from the conventional roadshows as his vehicle was surrounded by party workers with the traditional Mysuru Peta and were walking along his vehicle. A group of women, including dancers, cultural troupes and women in traditional Kodava attire were in the lead. By the time the roadshow ended it was dark but people milled on both sides of the road to catch a glimpse of the Prime Minister and showered him with flower petals.
There was also seating arrangements at a few designated places for citizens to get a view of the Prime Minister. The BJP functionaries said that 25 cultural and folk troupes were part of the roadshow, adding a festive verve to the political event. An ensemble of traditional musicians were playing the nadaswara, while there were artists depicting dollu kunita, puja kunita, somana kunita, Veerabhadra Kunita, Kamsale etc.
The Prime Minister was earlier received by former Ministers K.S. Eshwarappa and S.A. Ramdas who honoured Mr. Modi with a shawl, the Mysuru Peta and offered a sandal garland, apart from according him the traditional Poornakumbha welcome.
The roadshow commenced from the Gun House circle to reach Sanskrit Pathashala, MCC office, City Bus Stand and K.R. Circle from where it took the Dasara procession route to reach Bannimantap and the Highway Circle, entailing a distance of almost 4 km.
Mr. Eshwarappa, Mr. Ramdas, and Mysuru MP Pratap Simha accompanied Mr. Modi during the roadshow which covered parts of Krishnaraja, Chamaraja, and Narasimharaja constituencies. The BJP hopes the spillover effect will also have positive bearing in the nearby constituencies of Varuna and Chamundeshwari.
