60,000 activists and sympathisers of Sangh turn up at Palace Grounds to listen to Mohan Bhagwat.
It was a sea of khaki shorts and saffron flags. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Sunday gave the city a taste of its organisational skills by putting up a massive show of strength.
The 60,000-strong public meeting addressed by RSS sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat at Palace Grounds, however, turned out to be one of the smoothest affairs of such scale witnessed at the venue.
Barring occasional snarls, vehicles moved smoothly on Bellary Road, abutting Palace Grounds. The 3,000 policemen deployed at the venue, had nothing much to do, as the swayamsevaks themselves turned pointsmen and steered the crowds and vehicles whenever a snarl threatened to become big.
Among the estimated 60,000 participants, there were 16,500 men clad in the RSS attire, or ganavesha as it is known, of khaki shorts and white shirts. There were 15,000 women, a few of whom were seen donning the Rashtriya Sevika Samithi uniform of white sarees with a pink border.
So relaxed was the atmosphere that police commissioner Shankar M Bidari and additional commissioner (traffic) Praveen Sood were seen reading newspapers near the venue.
The show also did not disturb two marriages taking place on Palace Grounds. The swayamsevaks themselves manned all entrances and exits to the venue.
Back at the meeting venue, it was also an occasion for the MLAs and ministers of the BJP’s first-ever state government south off the Vindhyas, to flaunt the loyalties to their alma mater.
The chief minister, BS Yeddyurappa, himself led his ministers in arriving at the meeting venue in the ganavesha. Speaking to mediapersons, Yeddyurappa said, “I am a swayamsevak and as everybody else, I am wearing the sangh uniform.”
IT, BT and excise minister Katta Subramanya Naidu, higher education minister Aravind Limbavali, power minister K S Eshwarappa, medium and large industries minister Murugesh R Nirani, primary and secondary education minister Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri, medical education minister Ramachandre Gowda and transport minister R Ashoka were among the ministers seen attired in ganavesha. BJP national secretary Ananth Kumar too donned the RSS uniform.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}