'Chowkidar' Chants at Road Shows of Gambhir, Bidhuri; Vijender Rides Open-top Jeep

New Delhi, Apr 23 (PTI) BJP candidates Gautam Gambhir and Ramesh Bidhuri held colourful roadshows on Tuesday amid pro-Modi chants, while former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit and ace boxer Vijender Singh filed nominations here surrounded by a large group of Congress supporters.

Cricketer-turned-politician Gambhir, who has been fielded from East Delhi Lok Sabha seat, generated curiosity as people peeped out of the balconies of their homes, while many lined up Vikas Marg as he set on a roadshow from Karkardooma to file his nomination papers at the area's District Magistrate office at Shastri Nagar.

The roadshow passed from Karkardooma, Preet Vihar, Nirman Vihar, Laxmi Nagar, Geeta Colony after covering around 5 km.

During the roadshow that took around three hours to reach the office of returning officer, BJP workers and locals greeted Gambhir with garlands and showered flower petals on the open mini-truck he was riding.

Gambhir was accompanied by other party leaders including Vijay Goel, Manoj Tiwari, sitting MP Maheish Girri, party MLA OP Sharma, Rajiv Babbar and Kuljeet Chahl.

Sitting South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri also held a long roadshow, covering about 4 km from Chhattarpur to South Delhi District Magistrate's office, surrounded by party workers and supporters who chanted 'Main Bhi Chowkidar'.

Bidhuri in a short address to people in the streets, just before filing nomination, said, "You all have to be a 'chowkidar' of the nation. Modiji, like a chowkdaar, did the demonetisation in the middle of the night to curtail black money. Are you all ready to support us?"

Several party workers wore saffron caps bearing slogan -- "Main bhi chowkidar" while others held out cut-outs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

After filing nomination, he claimed that if he retains his seat, "In six months, I will get the work started on Phase-IV of the Delhi Metro."

Boxing champion Vijender Singh rode a black open-top jeep to reach the District Magistrate office in South Delhi, surrounded by party workers, who chanted 'Rahul Gandhi ki Jai' and 'Congress party ki Jai'.

Many Congress supporters chanted 'Chowkidar Chor Hai', a catchphrase often used by party chief Rahul Gandhi to attack Modi on the Rafale issue.

As soon as Singh stepped out of the area's District Magistrate's Office premises, he was mobbed by a battery of journalists, who asked questions ranging from his vision for the country to his sporting career.

When a reporter told him the BJP now has the "dhai kilo ka haath" (apparently referring to BJP candidate from Gurdaspur Sunny Deol) with them, he flexed his biceps and said "the Congress has this now".

In North East Delhi, Congress stalwart Dikshit, accompanied by a large group of supporters, reached the Additional District Magistrate office in the area for filing her nomination.

She took a car to reach the office and her supporters were chanting slogans in support of her.

The area was flooded with her supporters and she flashed the victory sign after filing the papers.

Congress candidate from East Delhi Arvinder Singh Lovely also filed his nomination papers after reaching DM East office along with scores of his supporters.

Congress and BJP workers shouted competing slogans at each other, outside the office.

While Lovely's supporters chanted "Chowkidar Chor Hai" when Gambhir's roadshow showed up, it was retaliated with 'Modi-Modi" slogans by BJP workers.

BSP candidate from the constituency Sanjay Gahlot, a union leader of MCD sanitation workers, also filed his nomination papers along with a small group of his supporters. BSP workers also raised "Chowkidar chor hai" chants.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)