A day after Congress president Rahul Gandhi addressed a rally in Gurugram, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Gurgaon Lok Sabha seat, Rao Inderjit Singh, Sunday held a roadshow in the heart of the old city to engage with voters and mobilise support for the May 12 polls.

During the roadshow, Singh asked people to vote for a “national cause”.

On Sunday evening, Singh’s roadshow started from Prem Mandir at Old Railway Road with large number of party workers and supporters lining up the 2.5km distance up to Aggarsen Chowk in Sadar bazar.

The participants shouted slogans in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Singh, as they passed the busy Sadar bazaar area covering the distance in almost three hours.

Rao travelled in an open jeep followed by a large number of supporters who walked the distance.

Interacting with people, Singh said people of India want a strong government, which can bring development and ensure safety and security of the country.

“This election is being fought for a national cause, and people should vote for a government that can deliver on the promises as has been done by PM Modi in the last five years,” he said, adding that there was no protests for water, power and other basic amenities during the BJP rule.

Singh is the sitting BJP MP. In 2014, he had won with a huge margin of three lakh votes by defeating his nearest rival Zakir Hussain of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). He had also won the Gurgaon Lok Sabha seat in 2009.

Members of Punjabi community, which has around 65,000 to 70,000 votes, Dhanak community, Balmiki community, which lives in large numbers along the Old Railway road, welcomed the BJP MP and garlanded him.

While entering the Sadar Bazar, Sohna Chowk, a large number of traders joined the roadshow and assured their support.

Members of Madina Masjid Committee, Gurugram, also joined the roadshow which concluded at Aggarsen Chowk. “This is not ‘shakti pradarshan(show of strength)’ but we took out a roadshow and asked for votes,” he said.

When asked about the accusations made by the Congress president regarding the poor condition of trade and business in Gurgaon, Rao said that he was asking votes for his own work and that of PM Narendra Modi. “All the accusations are untrue,” he said.

Earlier in the day, state PWD minister Rao Narbir Singh exhorted people to vote for the BJP candidate in large numbers at ‘Samajik Samrasta Sammelan’ orgnised at Rajput Vatika on Old Delhi road.

“I request the people to come out in large numbers and vote for the BJP to ensure a strong government led by PM Narendra Modi,” he said.

Senior BJP leader GL Sharma, who organised the event, said that this election was crucial for the nation and people should take it very seriously. “Please keep in mind that pressing the ‘Lotus’ button on May 12 would ensure peace and prosperity for everyone,” he added.

The Congress, however, said that the roadshow organised by BJP was in response to their successful election rally on Saturday.

“The strong show by Congress and participation of large number of people has made the ruling party jittery,” said captain (retd) Ajay Singh Yadav, the Congress candidate.

First Published: May 06, 2019 00:44 IST