Around 600 BJP-SAD workers watch Modi’s address

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, March 31

An elaborate pandal housed at a central location with about 500 odd seats was the city-based venue for Prime Minister’s ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ address here on Sunday.

A huge screen, flanked on both sides by ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ campaign posters of the Prime Minister with a huge photograph of Jalandhar SAD-BJP candidate and former Lok Sabha speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal, was installed on the spot.

Even as ‘Main Bhi Chowkidaar’ vs ‘Chowkdaar Chor Hai’ tweet wars mark the high-pitched campaign of the BJP and the Congress this year ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the city BJP unit, which has previously expressed wholehearted support to the drive, put up a joint show along with the SAD for the campaign on GT Road here today.

The event was attended by BJP leaders KD Bhandari, Manoranjan Kalia, Mohinder Bhagat and district president Raman Pabbi as well as senior leaders of the Akali Dal, including Charanjit Singh Atwal, district party president Kulwant Singh Mannan, Baljit Singh Neelamahal and Sarbjit Singh Makkar.

While the PM addressed the nation under the campaign from the Talkatora Stadium in Delhi, the live telecast in Jalandhar was interspersed with Modi-Modi calls in between when the PM took a pause. A handful of workers donning T-shirts bearing the slogan of ‘Namo Again’ captured the action on cameras. They said while PM Modi merchandise is only available on the Modi app so far, 200 of these T-shirts have been printed by local BJP workers and supporters ahead of the campaign.

Limited numbers

While the BJP has around 9,000 active activists/volunteers and about 1,000 office-bearers in the city alone, the venue today witnessed a limited gathering.

While the address today was specifically to reach out to activists who have pledged support for the ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ campaign across 500 locations in the country, the Jalandhar venue was frequented by about 500-600 workers of the party.

District president of the party Raman Pabbi said: “There are a lot of election meetings going on in the city and many of the party workers were away to attend these. They watched the telecast from their areas.

Many also witnessed the telecast live from their homes.”

The PM had previously addressed 25 lakh security personnel across the country via a live conference on the eve of Holi. The PM’s ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ campaign is a reply to the Congress’ ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ slogan which the BJP has termed an insult to the premier of the nation.