Lucknow turns blue on eve of Mayawati's rally

Lucknow, March 14 : Blue -- the colour of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) -- dominated Lucknow city Sunday on the eve of the ruling party's rally to mark its silver jubilee, touted as the biggest ever with a million people expected to attend.

The 12-km route from Hazratganj, the heart of the city, to the rally venue at Ramabai Ambedkar grounds appeared to be draped in blue. Be it the decorative lights, the welcome arches, banners and hoardings, and even the lights around fountains at major road junctions, everything was painted blue.

The Rs.1,200 crore Ambedkar Memorial was profusely illuminated, while all advertisement hoardings all along the thoroughfare to the venue seemed to have been taken over by the BSP. Mayawati's portrait was emblazoned on the freshly painted hoardings and announcements about the rally were visible everywhere.

Dozens of traffic islands along the route were covered under a net of tiny blue lights, that were also draped around all important state buildings across the city.