 |
| A political demonstration at JP roundabout in Patna on Tuesday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey |
Patna, Oct. 11: For once in a long time, Krishna today sold a record 30 juicy coconut slices in 10 minutes. “I was in fact hoping for this,” said a beaming Krishna. “I got to know about the rush expected at JP roundabout today and brought some extra coconuts. Thank god, the sea of people and the scorching sun helped,” he added and went along.
The roundabout in the heart of the state capital witnessed a stressful, yet multi-hued affair today with the men in khadi bringing on the colour of politics.
From as early as 10am, small restless groups of men marched along, some carrying the BJP’s saffron, some waving the RJD’s green and the rest striding with the Left’s red.
With Advani’s rath yatra having started and the leader all set to address a public meeting at Gandhi Maidan in the evening, the wave of saffron flags started getting into the ground right since morning. As they passed the JP roundabout in small groups, the police stood alert.
“As you can see a lot of barricades have been put. Of course, controlling the traffic is an issue but the more important thing is to avoid a clash. Soon the RJD’s men will be squirming at the entire place. It is a tough day for us,” a wide-eyed policeman. He was not wrong.
By 11am, the whole place started to reverberate with slogans for Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi as hordes of RJD supporters started assembling in big and small groups with flags bearing faces of smiling Lalu and Rabri. Lalu, desperate to gain lost ground after the drubbing in the Assembly elections, had decided to show his full force to challenge Advani. “Crowd thoda kam hai (The crowd is a bit less),” this correspondent asked a member. He looked up and laughed: “Adha ghanta ruk jaiye (Just wait for half-an-hour).”
Amid the crowd, a frail man with a huge moustache and clad in a traditional RJD green silk kurta became the centre of attention. “Hajipur se aaya hoon. Laluji ka saath dena hai. Wohi Bihar ke raja hai (I have come from Hajipur to support Laluji. He is the king of Bihar),” he blurted.
Senior police officers, ranging from SPs to DSPs, constantly patrolled the area, asking drivers not to park their vehicles in the middle of the road. Their requests fell on deaf ears. Suddenly a man began playing a dholak and another a mandar started to dance and play trying to deviate the supporters’ attention from the muggy heat and entertain them.
The JP roundabout was flooded by afternoon but cleared off after the rallyists embarked on the Raj Bhavan march.