Because Narendra Modi is chief minister of Gujarat, the National Security Guard or NSG forms the ring closest to him. (File photo of Narendra Modi)
's security in Patna will be unprecedented in the 64-year-old's political career, and similar to what is arranged for the Prime Minister.
On Sunday, Mr Modi addressed a massive rally in Patna after a series of bombs exploded in and around the venue, killing six people and injuring nearly 80. The BJP's candidate for prime minister was unharmed; today, he will visit the families of those who died.
Because Mr Modi is chief minister of Gujarat, the National Security Guard or NSG forms the ring closest to him. He is also protected by the state's police force.
For his Patna visit, 35 Black Cat Commandos from the NSG and 70 from Gujarat will escort him. The Gujarat police force is also sending seven bomb disposal squads to search different places he will visit. Metal detectors will be placed near the homes of the families he will visit today.
The union government, earlier this week, rejected his party's request for Mr Modi to be guarded by the Special Protection Group or SPG, which is entrusted with VVIPs like the Prime Minister and Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her children.
Instead, the union government has upgraded his security considerably by ensuring that when Mr Modi visits a state, the local police and government will coordinate closely with the Intelligence Bureau to arrange the route his convoy will take and sanitise the venues of his meetings. Every minute of Mr Modi's itinerary will be documented in writing by the police of the state that's hosting him and will be monitored by officials from the state government and the Intelligence Bureau.
This detailed preparation is referred to as the Advance Security Liaison (ASL). Other than VVIPs like the Prime Minister, it has so far been offered only to senior BJP leader LK Advani, who is considered a high-risk target by intelligence agencies because of his image as a right-wing hardliner.