'Roadshow' leaves Amdavadis miffed

For thousands of Amdavadis who gathered to witness the highly-anticipated 'roadshow' of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, it turned out to be a damp squib.

While people anticipated a rerun of the Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's roadshow wherein they travelled from the airport to the Sabarmati Ashram in an open vehicle and waving to the crowds, this time round, there was no such spectacle. Instead, senior officials said that bulletproof SUVs were used owing to security concerns and even the windows of their cars were not lowered.

"The roadshow was planned like this. There was no plan for the VVIPs to travel in an open vehicle," commissioner of police, AK Singh said.

Another senior official said the decision against using an open vehicle was at Israel's insistence.

Ranip resident Bhavesh Solanki was among those who was left disappointed. "I had thought that this was going to be an open vehicle roadshow like the one when Japan's PM was here. I had come specifically to see Modi, but did not even realise when his car drove past this place," Solanki said.

Additionally, a large number of Jewish community members had gathered outside Sabarmati Ashram to welcome the Israeli PM, but were unhappy that their high-profile guests did not stop to greet them at all.