Ranchi
In a change of plans, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will now be landing at the Bhagwan Birsa Munda Airport in Ranchi on November 14 in the evening for his visit the day after to Ulihatu in Khunti, the tribal icon’s native place, to celebrate his birth anniversary.
Officially, he has not granted any appointment to any of his party workers howsoever big or small, sources said adding since the Prime Minister’s tour is ‘apolitical’, Chief Minister Hemant Soren too will be joining hands with Modi in this mission. Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda, who also represents Khunti in the Lok Sabha, will accompany the PM.
According to State unit BJP spokesman Pradip Sinha, Modi will be landing in Ranchi at about 8 pm, from where he will straight away proceed to the Raj Bhawan. But while on way to Raj Bhawan from the airport, the BJP workers have decided to extend him a warm reception enroute involving garlanding and showering flower petals.
They will be greeting him at Hinoo Chowk, Birsa Chowk, Harmu Chowk, Sahjanand Chowk, Kishoreganj Chowk, Ratu Road Chowk, LPN Shahdeo Chowk and finally at the Raj Bhawan gate.
“All the BJP grassroots level unit chiefs (mandal adhyakshas) have been directed to ensure the presence of 1500-2000 party workers, apart from the commoners, at each of the points while greeting the PM. We are busy with our errands”, confided a BJP member.
This sudden change in Modi’s schedule has put the entire official machinery of the State government on its toes amidst Diwali celebrations. All senior officials, headed by chief secretary Sukhdev Singh, thereafter, began holding a series of meetings to ensure all protocols and security mechanisms are put in place in view of the PM’s visit.
On November 15, which happens to be tribal icon Birsa Munda’s birth anniversary and is celebrated as Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas across India, the PM will pay tributes to the martyr at the jail where he died in British captivity and which has been converted into a museum and named after him.
Thereafter, Modi will be landing at the Birsa College ground in Khunti from where he will be flagging off the “Vikasit Bharat Gourav Yatra Rath”. This vehicle will be touring the remote tribal-dominated villages across the State to publicise all that the Modi government has been doing for tribal welfare during the past nine years.
The Prime Minister will also be inaugurating a fest organised by TRIFED apart from several other scheduled functions involving inaugurations and foundation laying schemes for social welfare.
Thereafter, the Prime Minister will be visiting Ulihatu to pay his homage to the tribal icon and interact with his descendants.
