Amid a scorching temperature of 43.4 degrees Celsius and prevailing heat wave conditions that have ruined many campaigning programmes, nothing deterred the people in the national Capital on Wednesday to witness Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing them in West Delhi’s Dwarka.
Donning saffron clothes, a massive crowd from across Delhi and neighbouring areas braved the summer heat to gather at the BJP’s poll rally site in sector 14 well in advance to listen to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Many sported shirts with quotes like ‘phir ek baar modi sarkaar’ and ‘Modi ka Pariwaar’ to show their unwavering support to the BJP. Two female friends wearing saffron sarees sat eagerly with a big grin on their face to meet their beloved PM. Seema, a 45 year old woman, said that she is sitting in the heat to just get a glimpse of Modi once.
“I want to really see him. I can bear the heat if it means I get to witness him here. The reason I am voting for BJP this time is because I believe that I’ll be voting for development and women empowerment,” she said, while adding that woman have been empowered during the 10 year regime of Prime Minister.
Ankush Kumar, a resident of Gurgaon in Haryana where polling would be held in the sixth phase on May 25 along with Delhi, said that he reached the rally site, close to Sector 14 Dwarka Metro Station, around 2 pm.
“I came here just to see the prime minister,” he said.
The national capital on Wednesday recorded a maximum temperature of 43.4 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season’s average, and remained in the ‘Yellow’ alert zone.
Chants of “Modi, Modi” and “Jai Shree Ram” rent the air while many, including women, danced to drum beats as the prime minister reached the stage around 6.15 pm. They waved their mobiles with flashlights on while chanting “Modi ji ko Jai Shree Ram” and “Abki baar 400 paar” to greet Modi. “Not only from Delhi, people have arrived from different parts of the country the listen to PM Modi’s speech,” said Krishna Devi, who reached the rally site from Shahdara.
Another person at the rally, Karan Singh, said, “We want a ‘Majboot (strong) sarkar’, not a ‘majboor (helples) sarkar’. We are witnessing development across the country, look at the expressways. A huge gathering like this is always expected at the PM’s address irrespective of the weather.”
Karuna Singh, a Delhi resident, mentioned the consecration ceremony at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the 2016 surgical strike and the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 to say, “We are lucky to have witnessed such moments.”
