Congress weaves attack on BJP RSS amid chants of Har Har Mahadev

FURSATGANJ: Saffron dominated three colours of the Congress party flag in the Nehru Gandhi bastion of Amethi-Rae Bareli on Monday as workers welcomed their president Rahul Gandhi who earned the title of a Shiva Bhakta since he returned from Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.
The revered home of Shiva – mount Kailash -- served as a backdrop in majority of the hoardings that came up to greet the leader on his first visit to Amethi after return from the arduous journey.
All hoardings led visitors to a roadside event along the Nahar kothi where scores of kanwariyas (a school of shiva devotees who aggressively follow the rituals dedicated to the deity) awaited to take the blessings of the latest returnee from the Kailash.
Dancing on remixed bhajans of shiva played on a high volume DJ, the kanwarias - all of whom were affiliated to Kanwaria Sangh - said that it was a matter of pride for them to have Rahul Gandhi as their 'brother'.
"Ham bhi shiv bhakta hain... aur woh bhi... Itne bade neta ho ke bhi woh hamare dharm bhai hai (Both of us are shiva bhaktas... I am happy to have a leader so tall as my brethren)," said Santosh Kumar, a 23 year old resident of Tiloi who has also pledged to for Kailash Mansarovar yatra before he turns 27 years of age.
The local leadership had intelligently inter-weaved an attack on BJP RSS political monopoly over Hindu religion amid slogans of har har mahadev and jai shiva Shankar. "Bhagwan kisi ek ke nahi hain... Woh utne hi hamare bhi hain jitne unke (god doesn't belong to just one. He is as much ours as theirs)," announced a leader Avadhesh Singh and earned a huge round of applause from the crowd.
Rahul Gandhi the place around noon. He walked up towards the portrait of his deity and made a floral offering amid an echo of conch. The slogans raised by kanwarias and party-workers became a medley of hails for Lord shiva (like har har mahadev) and paeans for Rahul Gandhi (such as tufanon mein andhi mein... vishwas hai rahul gandhi mein).
The priest engaged for perhaps one of its kind ceremony in Congress, applied Chandan and roli on Rahul's forehead as he stood before his lord with folded hands. A blanket of silence followed as workers turned quiet to maintain the sanctity of the ceremony that took place amid vedic chanting of mantras from the shiva path.
Rahul maintained the look through the day despite a sultry weather. The workers also presented Rahul a memento of Shiva and a red angvastra and left for the next spot. Rahul Gandhi was welcomed at seven different places before he reached the Malik Mohad Jaisi Memorial Ground to dedicate mobile electricity transformers from his MP local area development fund.