Rahul in his constituency Amethi on Monday. (PTI)
Amethi MP and Congress president Rahul Gandhi was Monday greeted by saffron-clad youngsters claiming to be Kanwariyas amid chants of “Bam Bam Bhole”.
The streets of Fursatganj were decked with banners, including one that had Rahul’s picture on one side and that of Lord Shiva on the other, and referred to the Amethi MP as “Shiv Bhakt Rahul Gandhi”. At the entry point of his constituency, Rahul offered prayers before a picture of Shiva, after which a priest performed rituals and put a ‘tilak’ on his forehead.
While the banners mentioned a little known “Kanwariya Sangh”, a consortium of village-level committees to assist Kanwariyas during their pilgrimage, sources said the actual people behind the event were local Congressmen of the Bahadurpur block.
Neighbourhood shopkeepers said that while they knew little of “Kanwariya Sangh”, the face of the event was Pradeep Singhal, who presented an engraved picture of Shiva to Rahul on the dais where the Congress chief offered prayers.
Singhal claimed he is a member of the UP Congress Committee. He said it was the idea of youngsters who go on Kanwar Yatra to welcome Rahul in this manner.
Speaking at the event, where he laid foundation stones for several projects, Rahul spoke of development projects undertaken by the UPA government for Amethi, and alleged that nothing had progressed under the present BJP regime at the Centre and state.