Hotels, homestays full as BJP leaders gather in Banswara

Jaipur: Hotels and homestays in and around Banswara are full as battery of BJP leaders, MLAs and MPs from MP, Gujarat and Rajasthan, have already reached the region. The leaders have been forced to stay in places as far off as Patrapur, Aspur and Bagidora in the district. From high-income group resorts to middle and budget hotels, all displayed ‘no room’ board by Sunday evening. BJP is expecting over two lakh people from three states to attend the public address by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“All my rooms have been booked till November 1 and for the first time, it has happened that all rooms have political leaders as guests. It has left no space for walk-ins,” said Amit Patidar, owner of Hotel Relax Inn in Banswara. Some hotels have been booked by a single leader to accommodate party workers.
Even in far-off places like Patrapur, 45 km from Banswara and 20 km from Mangarh Dham, situation is no different. “My rooms have political leaders from Gujarat, MP and Rajasthan. Initially, I didn’t expect the programme to impact our hotels, but it’s good to have business,” said Hitesh Gandhi, owner of Siri Hotel in Partapur. The hotel bookings started after Diwali and by Sunday the bookings were closed by most of the hoteliers. Some senior leaders who could not find a decent stay are staying at local party workers’ residences and some as far off as in Dungarpur.
Even the district administration is struggling to provide hotels or homestays to government officials arriving from Delhi and elsewhere. “All government stays including circuit houses and bungalows have been reserved for the officials much in advance. Later, the number of officials from both the Centre and the state increased forcing us to put them up in nearby places of Banswara.