PM Modi Arrives in Mathura, to Address Mega Rally Shortly

Mathura, Uttar Pradesh: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will soon address hundreds of thousands of people gathered in a tightly packed ground in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura, the first in a series of 200 BJP rallies to celebrate one year in office of the the party's government at the Centre.  

PM Modi's chopper landed at a newly built heliport on Monday afternoon in Chandrabhan, a village in Mathura about 160 km from national capital Delhi, and the birth place of Deen Dayal Upadhyay, an ideologue of the Jan Sangh, from which the BJP sprang.

At today's rally, PM Modi is expected to announce the implementation of One-Rank-One-Pension, a long standing demand of retired defence services personnel. It will ensure that all people of a certain rank will draw the same pension irrespective of when they retired.

The choice of Chandrabhan - where 3000 policemen and commandos have been deployed today and a heliport for three choppers come up overnight - is loaded with symbolism.

Deen Dayal Upadhyay propagated integral humanism - "antyodaya" or the rise of the last man in the queue - and today's rally is seen as a signal from the Prime Minister that the government is pursuing inclusive growth with the poor at the centre of its policies.

PM Modi had ridden a huge wave to victory last year pitching his humble background as a tea-seller on trains. In recent months however, he has been attacked by the opposition, which has accused him of being "anti-poor" and "pro-big industry" in his reforms.

The Opposition has also alleged that in his first year in office, PM Modi has been away on too many foreign trips and has neglected to visit poor farmers whose crops were destroyed in unseasonal rain.

A strong counter is expected at today's 'Jan Kalyan' or public welfare rally; sources said several pro-poor policies launched in the BJP-led government's first year will be show-cased and the PM is also likely to make new pledges.

The Modi government took over on May 26, 2014.