BJP supporters come out in thousands for Shah padyatra in Delhi

Thousands of BJP supporters carrying party flags and the tricolour poured onto the Najafgarh road in Uttam Nagar on Thursday as Home Minister Amit Shah took out a padyatra, his first for the Delhi assembly election next month. The issue of amended citizenship law dominated the padyatra as supporters wearing saffron safas shouted "anti-nationals cannot stop CAA".

Shravan Gupta, 19, said, "My brother serves in the Army. For people like us, it is a fight against those who want to divide the country." Loud speakers fitted on campaign vehicles blared out "Mera rang de basanti chola", a song from Bollywood movie 'The Legend of Bhagat Singh', as people lined up along the road and clicked selfies.

Several BJP supporters carried posters and placards that read "You have implemented CAA, please implement NRC too". Several people, mostly women and the elderly, walked down the road carrying candles as shopkeepers tried to capture the moment in their mobile cameras.

The placards carried pictures of BJP's Uttam Nagar candidate, Krishan Gahlot. Chants of Jai Shri Ram and Vande Mataram pulsated in the air as several residents live-streamed the procession on social media.

The locality has a considerable population of traders mostly Brahmins, Jats and Guptas. Shah occasionally waved at the supporters, who showered him with rose petals.

People booed when an AAP campaign vehicle passed through the area. Neeraj Kumar, a resident of Uttam Nagar said, his family voted for the BJP in the general elections but they want Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi.

Asked what are main problems plaguing the constituency, he said, "There's no issue. Kejriwal resolved all of them." Tejas Kashyap, a student, claimed the sitting MLA Naresh Baliyan is mired in corruption but people are happy with AAP president and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

People will vote for Kejriwal because he gave free power and electricity but Baliyan personally did not do much, he said. Neeraj Dang, 35, said Modi had taken bold decisions such as abrogating a few provisions of Article 370, surgical strikes and CAA, and Kejriwal "just handed out lollipop to people".

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)