Union textiles minister Smriti Irani took part in a scooty rally to mobilise support for BJP candidate from Gorakhpur, Ravi Kishan, on the last day of campaign for the seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha polls here on Friday. The polling on the seat will take place on Sunday (May 19).

Sporting a helmet, Irani joined the 5-km scooty rally with Ravi Kishan’s wife Preeti Shukla and hundreds of BJP Mahila Morcha workers who kept raising slogans like ‘Jai Shri Ram’, ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Gorakhpur Ka Ek Hi Mission, Ravi Kishan, Ravi Kishan’.

The rally began from Maharana Pratap College at Civil Lines and passed through Town Hall, Kali Mandir, Golghar, Reti and Lal Diggi. Earlier addressing a gathering at the MP College, she said.

“A new India can’t be imagined without development of women. This is not new to our country as it has been the base of our culture and when women participation was not even in the imagination of the world, India had the concept of Nar-Nari, Shiv and Shakt and Ardhnarishwar.”

“Even during the freedom struggle if contribution of Mangal Pandey can’t be denied, the valour and strength of Rani Laxmi Bai also can’t be forgotten,” she added.

First Published: May 18, 2019 11:26 IST