Union ministers Giriraj Singh, Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Ram Kripal Yadav at the Patna airport on Friday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Newly inducted Union ministers Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Giriraj Singh and Ram Kripal Yadav got a rousing welcome on a day party veteran L.K. Advani made a low-profile entry in the city for a Children’s Day event.

It was ironical since Advani is considered a patriarch in the organisational hierarchy and the trio could be considered children in comparison to the 87-year-old politician. Advani had to suffer the contrast though.

More than 2,000 BJP supporters, who had come all the way from Saran, Nawada, and Pataliputra, constituencies represented by Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Giriraj Singh and Ram Kripal Yadav, respectively, thronged Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport to greet their leaders.

Rajiv Pratap Rudy holds the independent charge of skill development department (a department still in its formative stage), Giriraj Singh is minister of state for micro, small and medium enterprises, while Ram Kripal Yadav is a minister of state for drinking water and sanitation. The trio reached Patna around 1.45pm. Their supporters had gathered at the airport an hour before with banners.

From the airport, the ministers reached the BJP headquarters at Beer Chand Patel Path in an open van. During the ride, thousands of supporters in two- and four-wheelers moved along the cavalcade passing through Circular Road, where former chief ministers Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar reside.

Welcoming the trio, state BJP unit president Mangal Pandey said: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has once again tried to honour the people of the state by inducting three ministers from the state.”

Rudy said: “From India Gate to the Gateway of India, there is a saffron surge and the days are not far when BJP will form the government in Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand this year and Bihar next year.”

Giriraj, who has been vocal in his loyalty to Modi from the time when the latter, as Gujarat chief minister, had very few supporters in Bihar, heaped praise on the Prime Minister and his policies. He said: “I will work sincerely towards his Make in India campaign.”

Ram Kripal Yadav said: “I am thankful that Modiji reposed faith in me and gave me responsibility. The drinking water and sanitation department is his dream project.”