Preparations for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Mathura's Chandrabhan village
Chandrabhan, a sleepy village in Mathura, western Uttar Pradesh, has been transformed overnight. It is buzzing with activity centred around a brand new heliport where Prime Minister Narendra Modi's chopper will land this evening.
Mathura's Nagla Chandrabhan, about 160 km from Delhi, has been picked by PM Modi to begin celebrations to mark one year of his government at the Centre. He will address a mega rally today in the village, which is the birth place of Jan Sangh ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay. The Jan Sangh was the political wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS and formed the base for the birth in 1980 of the BJP, which now leads a coalition at the Centre.
The village is a fortress today, with over 3000 policemen and commandos deployed for security. A new road has also been laid. The last time Chandrabhan got such attention was over 10 years ago, when then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, also of the BJP, visited the home of Deendayal Upadhyay, his mentor in the Jan Sangh.
Slogans in praise of Deen Dayal Upadhyay, freshly painted on the walls of the village, welcome visitors. Flags with the "Om" flutter in the hot summer breeze.
Hoardings and posters on projects close to the RSS, the BJP's ideological mentor, like cleaning the Yamuna, have come also been put up up overnight. It is a signal to BJP cadres that the Modi government is not drifting away from the core values of the Sangh parivar or family.
Deendayal Upadhyay propagated integral humanism - "antyodaya" or the rise of the last man in the queue. The PM is expected to invoke that spirit as he showcases his government's pro-poor
policies and announces some more.
The PM's rally today is the first of "200 big and 5000 small" public meetings that BJP leaders will address this week. The Modi government was sworn in on May 26, 2014.