PM Modi, Amit Shah to address mega rally in Bhopal today, security beefed up

PM Narendra Modi in Madhya Pradesh: PM and the party chief will speak at the event, 'Karyakarta Mahakumbh' (grand assembly of party workers), being held on the occasion of birth anniversary of Hindutva icon and Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) co-founder Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya.

PM Narendra Modi in Madhya Pradesh: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah will address a mega congregation of BJP workers. (PTI)

PM Narendra Modi in Madhya Pradesh: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah will address a mega congregation of BJP workers today in Bhopal. PM and the party chief will speak at the event, 'Karyakarta Mahakumbh' (grand assembly of party workers), being held on the occasion of birth anniversary of Hindutva icon and Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) co-founder Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya. Security has been heightened in Bhopal ahead of PM's visit to the city today. The event has come just ahead of the Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh. BJP spokesman Sarvesh Tiwari said that the event which is scheduled to be held at Jambooree Maidan in the BHEL locality today will be the "world's largest congregation of political workers". The venue has been named as "Atal Mahakumbh Parisar" in memory of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who passed away in New Delhi in August. The prime minister who will arrive at the Bhopal airport around noon, will reach the venue in a helicopter along with other BJP leaders to avoid inconvenience to people, party leaders said. He will remain in the state capital for nearly three hours. Watch video- Here's all you need to know about BJP's today's mega rally in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. • Another state BJP spokesman, Rajnish Agrawal said BJP workers from 65,000 polling booths spread across the 230 Assembly seats in the state will take part in the programme. • An exhibition hall named after BJP leader and former Union minister, late Anil Madhav Dave, has also been set up at the rally site. • Agrawal told that the rally will showcase the journey and works of BJP stalwarts, including Vajpayee, Modi and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. • Police have made elaborate security arrangements for the high-profile event and also Modi's visit. • Inspector General (IG) Bhopal Jaideep Prasad said, "We have made adequate security arrangements for the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday by deploying nearly 6,000-strong force, including 4,000 personnel from the central and reserve forces." • Nearly 22 senior IPS officers have been deployed to coordinate security details. Along with Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram will also go to polls by the year-end. Modi and Shah, two star poll campaigners of the BJP, will be in Bhopal days after Congress chief Rahul Gandhi visited the state capital. Gandhi held a roadshow and later addressed Congress workers and office-bearers during his September 17 visit. Both the national parties are in poll campaign mode in the state, where the BJP is in power since 2003. While the saffron outfit will seek a fourth straight term in office in the year-end elections, the Congress will look to wrest power from the BJP in a state which was once its stronghold.