Trump’s coming! 1L to be vetted for event

Gandhinagar: With the White House finally announcing that US President Donald Trump will visit Ahmedabad during his India tour on February 24 and 25, the Gujarat government has begun the massive exercise to select 1.10 lakh people to attend an event at the Motera stadium. At the event, Trump will join Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has already gone on an overdrive and has identified 15 parking plots for 5,600 cars and 2,100 buses. Each plot will accommodate 300 to 500 two-wheelers. The plots will have electronic counters showing the availability of parking space.
Chief minister Vijay Rupani held a meeting with top officials and ministers on Tuesday in Gandhinagar to plan for the event. Students, professionals, and businesspeople from across the state, — along with a sizable number of NRIs of Gujarati origin — are expected to participate in the event.
A top government official said that every single participant will be verified by the government before the name is sent to security agencies for approval. “AMC officials and collectors of other districts have been asked to verify and provide plans for the mobilization of participants,” the official said. “Plans are being finalized to accommodate 1.10 lakh participants at the stadium.”
Sources privy to discussions of the CM’s meeting said, “The likely visit of President Trump and PM Modi to the Sabarmati Ashram and thereafter to the Motera stadium were discussed,” a source said. “Security aspects, details of a cultural show, and the routes of the VVIPs were also discussed.”
The Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) has been assigned the responsibly of organizing the cultural show at the stadium in association with the state’s youth and cultural affairs department and the tourism department.
“Although the ministry of external affairs (MEA) is yet to share a detailed plan of Trump’s visit, we are adhering to the MEA’s tentative plan, which states that Trump and PM Modi will spend around half an hour at the Sabarmati Ashram and between one-and-a-half and two hours at the Motera stadium,” said a government official. Hotel bookings for the US delegation will be finalized after a pre-liaison visit by US representatives, the official added.