Preparations in place for PM Narendra Modi’s rally in Jaipur

The stage is set for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Jaipur on Saturday. Modi is scheduled to arrive at the Jaipur airport at 12.40 pm from where he will leave for SMS Stadium by helicopter and then reach the venue, Amrudon Ka Bagh, by road at 1.15 pm.

Modi will address and interact with more than 2 lakh beneficiaries of 12 different welfare schemes during the rally.

BJP Rajasthan in-charge Avinash Rai Khanna held a ‘chai chaupal’ on Friday morning where he discussed the preparations for the rally with BJP workers. Khanna said that the beneficiaries of different schemes will sit in separate blocks and have been assigned different colours. The beneficiaries will be wearing duppta (long scarf) of the colour assigned to make identification easier. Unlike the usual arrangements where VIPs sit in the front row, on Saturday, VIPs will sit in the blocks along with the beneficiaries.

Khanna also took stock of the last minute arrangements at the venue. Terming the visit as historic, he dismissed the Congress’ criticism and said that the Congress seemed to have become scared looking at the scale of the rally.

The prime minister will also lay the foundation stone of projects worth hundreds of crores, including Ajmer elevated road project, water projects in Ajmer, Bhilwara and Bikaner and sewerage projects in Hanumangarh, Sikar and Mount Abu.

A glitch in the sound system during the dress rehearsal on Friday afternoon drew the ire of collector Sidharth Mahajan, who pulled up the officials concerned for poor arrangement, sources said.

The administration has also detained some members of Berojgar Sangh (association of unemployed youth) to prevent them from staging protests during the rally.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made for the prime minister’s visit. The drill for landing helicopters at the SMS Stadium started on Wednesday after the Rajasthan high court gave its nod to a state government request to allow the construction of helipads.

After the one-hour rally, the PM will leave for the Jaipur airport from SMS stadium at 2.30 pm.