Kanpur:
The BJP in Uttar Pradesh is in top gear to ensure that
Narendra Modi has 50 shades of grand for Saturday's rally in Kanpur, where he will deliver his first speech in the state after being picked as his party's prime ministerial candidate.
The pageantry includes a stage that's 100 feet long and 30 feet wide. While Mr Modi will appear here flanked by party president Rajnath Singh, two other smaller stages will host state leaders.
A vaastu or feng shui expert was consulted for the stage's design.
Special teams of party workers have been commissioned to source students in Kanpur for Mr Modi's audience. They've been doing the rounds of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and other local colleges to invite young people to the event.
Mr Modi will land at the venue of the rally at around 1 pm after a brief stopover at Lucknow's Amausi airport.
(Tight security in Kanpur ahead of Modi's rally)
The party's minority wing is also working hard to ensure that Muslims attend Mr Modi's speech. The BJP's choice for prime minister is derided by detractors as a divisive leader who failed to stop hundreds of Muslims from being killed during communal riots in 2002 in Gujarat during his first term as chief minister.
"The rally would prove to prophets of doom sitting in opposition parties that Modi is anti-anybody. The myth that Muslims are wary of Modi will be shattered in the rally," said Vijay Bahadur Pathak, state spokesman of the BJP.
Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populous state, elects 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha.
The BJP currently has just 10 of them.