Modi in Bengaluru today, BJP to make his visit count

The state BJP is set to utilise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally at Palace Grounds in Bengaluru on Sunday to increase the tempo of its election campaign.

All roads leading to Palace Grounds, the venue of Modi’s pre-election rally, have been draped in saffron.

BJP flags, banners, buntings and hundreds of flexes welcoming Modi have come up in every available space.

The BJP had been working towards making the rally a mega event and a “landmark” in the history of Karnataka politics. Modi will land at HAL airport at 3.30 pm and take a helicopter to the venue. Modi’s speech will start at around 4 pm.

A huge 40 x 80 feet stage has been set up at a height of 20 feet from the ground. Arrangements have been made for 22 leaders to sit on the dais.

Modi’s rally will mark the culmination of the party’s 85-day Navakarnataka Nirmana Parivarthana Yatra and the BJP is banking on the event to build up a tempo for a more aggressive second phase of the election campaign and to galvanise the party cadre.

Modi will visit Bengaluru even as pro-Kannada organisations will observe a ‘black day’ seeking his intervention in resolving the Mahadayi river water dispute with neighbouring Goa. They had earlier called for a Bengaluru bandh on Sunday, but it was declared unconstitutional by the Karnataka High Court.