Even as BJP national president Amit Shah proceeded to file his nomination papers from Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat on Saturday, the party used the occasion to make a show of strength of the wider NDA in Ahmedabad.
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan and Akali Dal chief Prakash Singh Badal were all in attendance and, along with BJP leaders Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari, were on the stage as Shah addressed a massive public gathering.
In addition to once again proving the obvious fact that Shah is next to Modi in the BJP hierarchy, the show of strength by the NDA assumes significance at a time when the Congress has not been able to make allies, as much as it would have liked to ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Arun Jaitley were also in Gandhinagar on the occasion.
After Shah took to the stage, he bowed to Badal, signalling the importance the BJP was giving to the age of the veteran leader and also attesting to the significance of the all-important state of Punjab ahead of Lok Sabha elections.
If he bowed to Badal, Shah walked near the stairs to receive Thackeray and hugged him. Shah made sure that senior BJP leader Om Mathur guided Thackeray to his designated seat on the stage.
Shah was flanked on his left by Badal and on his right by Singh and Thackeray. Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was also on the stage.
Called the “Vijay Sankalp Sabha”, the event saw people thronging the Sardar Patel Statue in Naranpura area of Ahmedabad from different parts of the city and nearby areas. While youth were seen spotting “Main bhi Chowkidar” T-shirts, women were wearing orange and green sarees depicting the lotus, the BJP symbol.
One after another, each of the BJP leaders were careful in making references to party stalwart L.K. Advani. The veteran politician, 91, was sidelined and Shah was given the ticket. Advani had represented the Gandhinagar seat six times.
Shah said that he was happy the BJP had chosen him to contest from the seat, which was once represented by Advani and Purshottam Mavlankar. “With all humbleness, I will try to take forward the legacy of Advaniji,” he said.
Albeit, the BJP leaders' references to Advani were also an attempt to silence critics who have been blaming the party for ignoring and side-lining the stalwart.
Shah appealed to the electorate of Gujarat to give all the 26 seats from the state to the BJP, so that the NDA once again came to power and Modi became prime minister once again.
Shah said that it was clear that only Modi and the BJP-led NDA could provide security.
Replying to the opposition's 'chowkidar chor hai' campaign, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said, chowkidar chor nahi, chowkidar sure hai (watchman is not a thief, but is sure of victory).
Rupani urged Shah to travel across the nation to campaign for the BJP and ensure that the electorate of Gandhinagar would elect him with a record margin.
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The over 4km-long route of the roadshow saw jam-packed roads and the open truck in which Shah was present with Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and Singh travel at a snail's pace. As a gesture towards the crowd, Shah threw garlands on them.
BJP flags fluttered on the route and in Gandhinagar, the party workers are all set to form a human chain.
The Congress is yet to announce a candidate to take on Shah in Gandhinagar.