Sonia leads impressive roadshow in Varanasi, cuts short after falling ill

August 2, 2016

Varanasi, Aug 2: Taking the battle to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's turf, Congress President Sonia Gandhi today led a massive roadshow here kicking off the party's campaign for the 2017 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh where it is out of power for nearly three decades.

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69-year-old Gandhi, however, had to cut short the roadshow towards the fag end of the eight-km march route this evening after she fell ill as it wound through the streets of the temple town for nearly three hours.

Congress sources said Gandhi cancelled her planned visit to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in the evening to offer prayers and was returning to Delhi.

The sources said that Gandhi was suffering from viral fever but had decided to go ahead with the roadshow as she was not inclined to cancel it at the last minute.

Modi prayed for Gandhi's quick recovery and good health.
"Heard about Sonia ji's ill health during her Varanasi visit today.

The roadshow, which continued for about three hours, was halted for sometime at the Lohurabir roundabout near the fag end of the roadwhow from the Circuit House to Englishiya Line. The roadshow later proceeded without Gandhi.

The sources said Gandhi complained of uneasiness and after taking rest for sometime, she left the area.
Thousands of Congress supporters and workers took part in the roadshow.
It was Gandhi's first visit to Varanasi after Modi became Prime Minister in May 2014.
The march began with Gandhi garlanding the statue of B R Ambedkar at the Circuit House and the marchers criss-crossed lanes and bylanes of the temple town.

Gandhi, who was initially travelling in a car and later moved to a vehicle with open sunroof, waved at the crowd which cheered and raised slogans against the Modi government.

She came out of her vehicle several times to accept the greetings of the cheering supporters, including groups of Muslim women. As the road show passed through several localities, rose petals were showered on Gandhi and her cavalcade from adjoining buildings.

Dozens of mini trucks prominently displayed posters with '27 Saal, UP Behaal' (27 years of UP's distress) written on them. Placards carried by hundreds of workers also had the same slogan written on them.

Besides the party's chief ministerial candidate Sheila Dikshit, AICC General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad, state party chief Raj Babbar and senior leaders Pramod Tiwari and Sanjay Singh accompanied Gandhi. Babbar expressed the hope there will be a "miracle" in favour of his party in the elections.

Earlier, Gandhi flew in here for a day-long programme in Modi's constituency and was led by hundreds of bikers, waving party flags from the airport to the heart of the city.

Congress has launched a campaign "dard-e-Banaras" to highlight lack of development in Varanasi, which Modi is representing for over two years in the Lok Sabha.

Congress has been out of power for 27 years in Uttar Pradesh and is projecting that the state has gone from bad to worse in these years through a campaign, called '27 Saal, UP Behaal'.

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Comments

curious
 - 
Tuesday, 2 Aug 2016

It shows she was not fit to enter this holy eternal city...

Emem manna
 - 
Tuesday, 2 Aug 2016

Mr Narayan i want to make slight change here that not hardworking but hardly working mr modi and his untalented team.

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News Network
January 12,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 12: Protesters plan to intensify their anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act movement from sit-down satyagrahas and rallies to street and door-to-door campaigns in different parts of the city.

The street campaigns began on January 1 with 20-30 volunteers of Hum Bharat Ke Log, reaching out to people in Koramangala and Whitefield and explaining the CAA, National Population Register (NPR), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and related issues. They have organised four campaigns.

According to Zia Nomani, member of Hum Bharat Ke Log, the campaign will intensify soon. “Over 200-400 volunteers will organise nukkad sabhas and other activities around JP Nagar and Banashankari,” Nomani said.

She added that though protests began as a medium for people to vent their concerns, more needs to be done.

“We have realised that many people have begun working on their personal documents and want to help them understand what CAA is all about,” Nomani said.

Volunteers will talk to people at street junctions, discuss issues and run signature campaigns. They say: “Our movement is focussed on reaching out to people. Pro-CAA workers too started a door-to-door campaign last week.”

Avani Chokshi, an advocate who participated in a campaign, said though people had a cursory idea about these issues, they didn’t know the details. “It through such campaigns that we can reach more people. It’s important to talk to people who haven’t made up their mind about the issues or are even pro-CAA,” said Avani, adding, “It hard to combat hatred in a short span of time. The movement needs to be sustained.”

Activist Geeta Menon, who has been at the forefront of the street campaign, says they were heckled at some places.

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News Network
February 22,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 22: Karnataka legislative assembly speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri has issued a notification banning entry of journalists in the Legislators House.

"Electronic media and print media cannot enter the Legislators House any time," the notification issued by the Speaker's office read.

The notification which was issued on February 18 said, "The legislators come to Legislators House from their constituencies during the assembly session. It is their private time when they stay there. When journalists come to Legislators House to meet them, it's an invasion of their privacy."

"Arrangements will be made for journalists to speak to MLAs outside the gate. No journalist or camera person will be allowed inside the gate," the notification added.

The Legislators House is located near the Vidhan Soudha, the state legislative assembly.

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News Network
March 6,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 6: Karnataka home minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday said he has asked police to enhance the security of Congress leaders and former ministers UT Khader and Tanveer Sait.

"Threat perception has been there for some time now, all the more after the attack on Tanveer Sait. Their (Congress MLAs UT Khader and Tanveer Sait) security is necessary. I have intimidated them. I have asked police to enhance their security," Bommai told media persons.

"After the assault on Tanveer Sait, the police told me that there were some intelligence reports and asked to me to take proper security. They have given one police man for the name's sake," Khader said.

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