Goa, the State known for its hospitality, has run out of chairs to seat guests and buses to ferry them, even as it scrambles to prepare for the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate’s mega rally on January 12.
Addressing a Press conference at the Bharatiya Janata Party’s State headquarters in Panaji on Thursday, Health Minister laxmikant Parsekar however refused to disclose just how much the party is spending on Narendra Modi’s rally, which is being billed as Goa’s biggest public meeting, ever.
“We have already booked one lakh chairs. Since there were no more chairs available in Goa, we have ordered chairs from border areas of Maharashtra,” Parsekar said.
The former State president of the BJP also said that nearly 1.8-lakh people had purchased the `5 coupons that guarantee access to the venue. That amounts to more than one tenth of the State’s population of 14-lakh.
Earlier, party officials had informed the media that the State had also run out of buses to ferry people to the meeting and that buses were being hired from Karnataka and Maharashtra for the purpose.
Giving the dimensions of the dais, Parsekar said the stage for Modi spread over an area of 3,000 square feet and was 8.5 feet high. “All senior leaders of the party, Ministers and coalition partners have been invited to share the dais with Narendra Modi,” the Health Minister said.
Since the stretch of chairs extended to more than half-a-km in length, Parsekar said that two giant lED screens, as well as mega television screens would be placed all over the venue for NaMo’s fans so that they could have “darshan” of the Gujarat Chief Minister from up close.
Parsekar, however, dodged queries on key issues. Asked what local issues Modi would raise during the meeting, he said: “If I tell you now, you will not attend the meeting on January 12”.
The senior BJP leader also dodged questions on the amount of money spent by the BJP on the meet. “The BJP does not pay in advance. Once the bills (from vendors) come in, we will tell you,” Parsekar said.