The Hindu : New Delhi News : Modi gives Valmiki Basti a miss

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 26, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

New Delhi

New Delhi

Modi gives Valmiki Basti a miss

Madhur Tankha

Means a loss of face for BJP’s New Delhi candidate Vijay Jolly
Party leaders train their guns on Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit

NEW DELHI: The much awaited road show of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in Valmiki Basti on Mandir Marg here on Tuesday turned out to be a flop show as the senior BJP leader preferred to give it a miss.

Even as hordes of local residents waited anxiously for a little over two hours for an interface with “Narendra Bhai” and despite assurances by local leaders from atop a jeep that he would soon be arriving to address them, the Gujarat Chief Minister couldn’t make it.

For the BJP candidate from New Delhi, Vijay Jolly, the failure of Mr. Modi to show up meant a loss of face as the local people and the large contingent of impatient media persons bombarded him with questions about the Gujarat Chief Minister’s itinerary.

After an animated conversation on his mobile and a walk inside the Valmiki Basti, Mr. Jolly finally announced that Mr. Modi would not be turning up for the road show and apologised to everyone present.

To keep the restless crowd under control, party workers intermittently beat the drums and shouted slogans against the Congress Government for its “failure to control price rise and the deteriorating law and order situation in the city”. On the jeep was emblazoned the slogan, “Time for Change, Vote for Change”.

Someone in the crowd shouted “conspiracy” as the light from one of the poles went out, even though the party workers had made special arrangement to illuminate the place.

In their speeches, the leaders trained their guns on Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit for being “unconcerned” about crime against women. They implicitly referred to the murder of journalist Soumya Vishwanathan and said Ms. Dikshit doesn’t want women to venture out of their homes.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi