Shah holds roadshow in Bhopal in support of Pragya Thakur

BJP chief Amit Shah, flanked by the partys nominee for the Bhopal Lok Sabha seat, Pragya Singh Thakur, held a roadshow late Wednesday evening, three days ahead of the high-stake elections in the Madhya Pradesh capital.

Former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Madhya Pradesh BJP president Rakesh Singh also took part in the roadshow organised to seek voter support for Thakur.

The 49-year-old Hindutva activist, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, is taking on Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh in Bhopal, a bastion of the saffron party for the last two decades.

The BJP leaders, who were in an open vehicle, started their roadshow from Peer Gate amid tight police security at around 9 pm, nearly three hours behind the original schedule.

The 4.5km roadshow ended at Nadra Bus stand in the middle of the old city, home to a sizeable Muslim population, at around 9.45 pm.

A large number of BJP workers, clad in saffron T- shirts, waved the partys flag as chants of 'Har Har Modi', 'Modi Modi' and 'Vande Mataram' rented the air.

They also shouted 'Pragya didi sant hai, Diggy tera anth hai' (Sister Pragya is a saint and Diggy is staring at his defeat).

In the morning, Singh, accompanied by religious leader Computer Baba, held his own roadshow in which hundreds of white and saffron robed sadhus took part.

The sadhus have descended on Bhopal on a call given by Computer Baba. During the roadshow, they chanted 'Jai Shri Ram' and demanded construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya at the earliest.

Bhopal is among the eight Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh that will vote on May 12 in the third phase of elections in the state.