Matching Modi's foray into Amethi this week, Rahul arrived in the holy city and rolled out his journey from the Muslim-dominated Gol Gadda area, with party candidate Ajay Rai, waving to the cheering crowds and covering 12 km in an open jeep in about five hours. 

His supporters showered him with rose petals all along the route that covered thickly populated localities such as Chetganj, Beniya Bagh, Madanpura and Peeli Kothi. 

The road show covered a distance longer than that of Modi and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal's rallies, although in the opposite direction. Family members of late maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan played shehnai during the road show. 

Earlier, the family had refused to become a proposer for Modi when he had filed his nomination for the Varanasi seat on April 24. A large posse of policemen surrounded Rahul's convoy as it moved in the streets of Varanasi. It was virtually a day of roadshows in Varanasi on the last day of campaigning as Kejriwal also held his road show followed by UP CM Akhilesh Yadav. 
(With agency inputs)