Selective response

At the launch of the Stand Up India scheme in Noida this week, buses packed with people from neighbouring cities converged at the venue much before Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley arrived.

Two singers - one of them being Bharatiya Janata Party Lok Sabha member Manoj Tiwari - were seen entertaining people with Hindi and Bhojpuri songs. From time to time they kept exhorting the crowd to chant "Bharat Mata Ki Jai".

But not many could be heard chanting the patriotic slogan. Just when the prime minister started speaking, the crowd erupted in slogan-chanting without any prodding.