PM Modi to attend concluding ceremony of Parivartan Yatras in Chhattisgarh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the concluding ceremony of two 'Parivartan Yatras' of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bilaspur city of poll-bound Chhattisgarh on Saturday, a party leader has said. This is PM Modi's third visit to the Congress-ruled state, where assembly elections are due this year-end, in the last three months. The prime minister will address the 'Parivartan Mahasankalp' rally, the closing ceremony of two Parivartan Yatras, at Science College ground here at 2 pm, state BJP chief Arun Sao told reporters on Friday.

While the first Parivartan Yatra was taken out from Dantewada (south Chhattisgarh) on September 12, the second one was rolled out from Jashpur (north Chhattisgarh) on September 15, he said. Both the yatras saw 83 'Swagat Sabhas' (welcome gatherings), four roadshows and various public meetings before culminating at Bilaspur, covering a distance of more than 3,000 km across 87 assembly segments (out of the total 90), he said. Bijapur, Sukma, and Antagarh constituencies (all Maoist-affected) have not been included in the itinerary, but people belonging to these constituencies were engaged in the yatra when it passed through the adjoining constituencies.

"Even rainfall at various places could not dampen the morale of the party leaders and workers and they enthusiastically participated in the two yatras which also saw a huge response of people," he said. The two yatras, which saw a participation of around 50 lakh people, have turned the wave of change into a storm, Sao said, exuding confidence that the Congress will be ousted from power in the upcoming elections. According to police, a massive security cover has been put in place at the venue of the programme. A total of 1,500 security personnel belonging to the police force, Special Protection Group (SPG), Chhattisgarh Armed Force, National Security Guard and Home Guard will be deployed. In view of the PM's visit, a three-kilometre radius area of the city has been declared as a "no-flying zone" and anti-drone guns have also been deployed, a police official said. In the 2018 assembly polls, the Congress handed a massive defeat to the BJP, which had been in power for 15 years under Raman Singh. The Congress had won 68 constituencies and the BJP just 15. The Congress currently holds 71 seats. The saffron party had last month released its first list of candidates for 21 seats, which it had ceded to the Congress in the last polls even though the Election Commission of India (ECI) is yet to announce the schedule of the upcoming assembly elections, due later this year.