New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday led the International Yoga Day celebrations in Ranchi. PM along with various BJP leaders performed Yoga at Prabhat Tara ground in Jharkhand. Speaking at the event, PM said "Yoga provides a perfect blend of knowledge, work and devotion". While addressing the people PM also said that "My motive is to make Yoga reach the poor and tribals." "For Yoga to become popular, infrastructure for it must be strengthened. We must take Yoga to all sections of society" he said.


"Peace and harmony have always been associated with Yoga and Yoga can further Unity and can heal several challenges the world faces" PM said. "Today when the world is accepting Yoga, we also have to further research on Yoga; we have to unite Yoga with fields of medicine, physiotherapy, artificial intelligence" he added.

PM arrived in Ranchi on Thursday night, and was received by the Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das and Governor Draupdui Murmu. After spending the night at the Raj Bhawan, the Prime Minister will attend the programme at Prabhat Tara ground of Ranchi on Friday morning.







"All preparations have been done for the programme. We have made bus arrangements to ferry the participants to the ground. The buses will ply from 1 a.m to 3 a.m., all participants will have to reach to the ground by 4 a.m." Rai Mahipat Rey, Ranchi Deputy Commissioner, was quoted as saying by agencies.

"Around 40,000 people are likely to participate. Some 10,000 people had applied online and 4,500 have turned up for passes".

"Elaborate security arrangements have been made. Eleven entry gates have been made at the programme site. Around 100 CCTV cameras have been installed," Anish Gupta, Ranchi Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), told the media. According to the police, more than 4,000 security personnel will be deployed.

While PM Modi led the nation from Ranchi, Home Minister Amit Shah was in Rohtak and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in the national capital.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) working president J P Nadda will perform yoga, along with other party leaders and workers, at a park opposite the headquarters of the saffron party on Deen Dayal Upadhyaya (DDU) Marg here.

Besides, newly-elected Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla participated in an event to be held on the premises of the Parliament House complex. Union Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir attended a yoga session at the Yamuna Sports Complex in Shahdara.

Other Union ministers who attended International Yoga Day events in Delhi are Ravi Shankar Prasad (Hauz Khas), Piyush Goyal (Lodhi Garden), Harsh Vardhan (Kudesia Garden, Civil Lines), Smriti Irani (Dada Dev Ground, Raj Nagar), Thawar Chand Gehlot (Sangam Vihar), Dharmendra Pradhan (Talkatora Garden), Ramesh Pokhriyal (Burari), Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi (Ramjas Sports Ground, Patel Nagar) and Arjun Munda (Lado Sarai), among others, a Delhi BJP leader said.