BENGALURU: They were glued to their TV sets, watched it on giant screens...they didn’t want to miss even one second of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his team taking oath in New Delhi on Thursday. The event perhaps gave a tough competition to the World Cup cricket which kicked off on Thursday too in terms of eyeballs.
From north, to coast to south, Modi and BJP admirers erupted in joy bursting crackers and shouting ‘Modi’, Modi’. They were also bursting with pride as three of their very own ---D V Sadananda Gowda, Pralhad Joshi and Suresh Angadi-- took oath as ministers.
From free hair cuts in Bengaluru to free health check-up in Udupi to free auto rides to free distribution of laddus and jalebis, the state showed its happiness in many ways. Punik Shetty who owns a photo studio in Managaluru announced free passport-size photo service. More than 80 customers availed the service by evening.
Meanwhile, Prashanth Bhandarkar of Dakshina Kannada Garage Owners Association, a staunch Modi follower, finally shaved off his beard and took a hair cut just hours before Modi was sworn in. He took a vow six months ago not to shave or have his hair cut till Modi came back as PM.
In Shivamogga, BJP leaders, including senior leader K S Eshwarappa, offered more than one lakh laddus to people.
The Hassan district BJP unit installed a big screen in front of the Hemavathi statue circle near KSRTC bus stand for people to watch the swearing-in ceremony. Umesh, a businessman and a fan of the Prime Minister, set up a Namo Tea stall at Arlikatte Circle where he served tea and biscuits to public through the day.
In Dharwad, Manjunath Hiremath, clay artist, made an idol of Modi taking oath. He says he took 10 hours to make it. In Haveri district, Veeresh Ujjanagoudar, who runs Modiji canteen at Halageri village, offered free breakfast on Thursday to around 5,000 people between 7 am and noon.
Believe it or not, a saloon in Mangaluru offered even free shave. Needless to say many queued up. Not to be outdone, a person in Bengaluru offered free hair cut. The long and short of it is that it was a free-for-all in Karnataka.