The rally to celebrate the second anniversary of the Union government, headed by the BJP, in Saharanpur will be a historic one. The party has pushed all its energy to ensure a record attendance when Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a gathering to launch the election drive for 2017 UP Assembly polls.
This will be followed by another rally by the PM at Allahabad on June 13 during the BJP’s national executive meeting.
Arrangements for making the Saharanpur rally a success has been completed with BJP leaders working over time to draw around two lakh people from nearby districts and even from Uttarakhand. The hill state will also go to polls in 2017. Interestingly, the rally site is on the Delhi road in Saharanpur and happens to be in Behat Assembly segment and is labelled number 1 among the 403 Assembly constituencies in UP.
State BJP vice-president Rampal Pundir told media persons that arrangements were underway for making the rally historic. “Modi’s rally is not only aimed at celebrating two years of the BJP-government at the Centre but will also send a strong message in the state as well as neighbouring Uttarakhand where polls are due early next year,” Pundir said.
He added that the PM’s popularity had skyrocketed after the facile victory in the Assam Assembly elections.
“The BJP district units of Saharanpur, Shamli, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnore, Meerut and Baghpat are mobilising cadre and resources to ensure maximum participation at the rally,” added Pundir.
The rally is being seen as a starting point of the BJP’s campaign for the 2017 Assembly polls in UP. Earlier, Modi had addressed rallies at Mathura, Bareilly and Noida but this area was left out barring a sudden stop over rally at Saharanpur some days before the Bihar polls.
Meanwhile, in a gesture of goodwill, Muslim farmer Raees Ahmad has offered eight acres of farming land for the rally. Ahmad had harvested his cane crop before ripening so that the rally can be conducted with ease there. He was offered compensation but refused to accept it. A total of 265 acres of land will be used to construct a temporary pandal and the stage for the rally.
Meanwhile, BJP MlA Rajiv Gumber said that no agricultural produce would be destroyed for holding the PM’s rally. He said that people of all castes and religions were coming out to support the BJP for organising the event.
On the other hand, Haridwar legislator Madan Kaushik and divisional chief Pradeep Kalra of adjoining Uttarakhand have asked the BJP workers to ensure maximum participation at the rally. The BJP district unit has booked 20 buses from Haridwar. This is the second consecutive time that the PM has chosen UP to celebrate another year in office. Earlier, to celebrate NDA’s one year in office, Modi had addressed a rally at Nagla Chandrabhan of Mathura.