Students at the rose show in Raj Bhavan on Sunday. Picture by Hardeep Singh

No politician, but hundreds of ordinary people trooped to Raj Bhavan on Sunday in a marked departure from the trend of the past few days.

The governor’s house, for the first time, hosted a competitive winter rose show in association with Birsa Agriculture University, National Horticulture Mission, Horticulture and Agro-Forestry Project, Plandu and Rose Society of Ranchi.

Over 1,100 entries with nearly 3,000 blooms in form of cut roses, roses in pot and rose arrangements in various categories were received on Saturday when the two-day show began. The flowers were judged on Saturday itself. On Sunday, they were displayed at Birsa Mandap on Raj Bhavan premises for public viewing.

Raj Bhavan had invited entries for individual and institutional categories through advertisements in local newspapers and also a post in its website. Both these categories had 19 sections each.

The entry from Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC), Ranchi, was crowned “The King” while that of Jharkhand Bidhan Sabha became “The Queen”. In overall judging, Hazel Davis bagged the topper’s prize individually with 33 counts followed by Gopal Sahu (26) and HEC (25).

Among outstation contestants, Jubilee Park and Jusco, both of Jamshedpur, marked their presence, fetching 21 and 13 points, respectively.

“It being a state level affair, more entries were received,” said H.P. Bahl, secretary of Rose Society, Ranchi.

The visitors, whose number appeared to have crossed 7,000, were appreciative. “I never saw so many roses, that too of myriad hues, at the same place before,” exclaimed Amar Prasad of Patna, who is now working in Ranchi.

Prizes were given away by Governor Syed Ahmed and other diginitaries.