People perched on trees makes Modi anxious, turnout leaves him in awe

Mangaluru: A ‘human wall’ as Prime Minister Narendra Modi described it, stretching from Mangalore International Airport to Nehru Maidan, the venue of his public rally left Modi both happy and concerned. He was happy because the human chain stretched into a human wall, and concerned because there were more people than the venue could accommodate, and saw people climb trees abutting the ground to get a better view, forcing Modi to appeal to them to climb down for their own safety.
Referring to the people who lined up from the airport right till the venue left him wondering if anyone would be present at the venue, Modi said the gathering at the venue awash in saffron left him in awe. “I am overwhelmed by your affection. I have come here to this venue several times in the past, and each time the crowd is bigger,” he said, adding it is because of this affection that he was elected Prime Minister five years ago in 2014.

Urging the gathering to repose the same faith in him in these polls as well, Modi, seeing the people perched perilously on branches of trees, stopped his speech in the beginning itself, and made a fervent appeal to them to come down. “If something happens to you, I will feel very sad,” Modi said, adding that one should not take such a big risk. “I am yours and will come back again to address you. Please come down for your own safety,” Modi exhorted.

However, since there was literally no space left inside the venue, the diehard fans of Modi continued to remain atop the trees and listen to his 32-minute speech in rapt attention. Earlier, organisers presented Modi with a digital image of local demi-Gods Koti-Chenayya, a portrait of his mother Heeraben drawn by artist Chitra Mitra, an image of ‘Chowkdar Sher Hai’ created by Jeevan Acharya and ‘prasad’ from Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala.