Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to address a BJP campaign rally at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata on Wednesday.  As many as nine huge German hangars covered with aluminium sheets have been set up to accommodate those turning up at the Brigade rally to hear PM Modi and others.

According to the state BJP leadership, the covered structures have been installed to protect the people from the scorching April heat. Three stages have been put up at the site, the largest one being the stage for the Prime Minister and the BJP’s central leadership while two smaller ones are for the BJP district presidents and the party candidates from South Bengal. More than 200 labourers and decorators have been working on the preparations since last week.

At least 120 video display units have been installed to live telecast the speeches of the PM and other leaders.

“We are expecting eight to ten lakh people in the rally. It is going to be a historic event at the Brigade. Our party workers and activists had got only ten days to organise this grand event,” said Dilip Ghosh, Bengal BJP president and Lok Sabha candidate from Midnapore. “We decided for the covered rally for the sake of our supporters who will be sitting here for hours,” said Mr Ghosh who visited the Brigade ground around 2.00 p.m. to take stock of the arrangements.

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BJP general secretary Raju Banerjee said, “I cannot give any exact figure as to how many people will be attending this mega rally because in our previous rallies, the number of people who turned up was twice more than expected. It is a people’s rally and they will spontaneously pour in from all corners of South Bengal.”

According to Lalbazar sources, adequate security arrangements have been made. Kolkata Police officers visited the spot at around 3.30 pm to check the security arrangements with metal detectors and sniffer dogs. City police officers along with the officials of Special Protection Group (SPG) have been holding several meetings since Sunday to make a full-proof plan for security.

Trinamool Congress general secretary Partha Chatterjee mocked the Brigade rally as ‘hangar meeting’ and told the Press that the BJP was trying to cover the absence of people with these hangars. Mr Chatterjee also said that while Trinamul supporters stand even in heavy rain to listen to their leader Mamata Banerjee, the BJP supporters are afraid of sunlight. This will be Narendra Modi’s first ever rally at the Brigade Parade Ground as Prime Minister. Modi had addressed a rally at this historic ground ahead of the 2014 general elections.

Since there will be two meetings on Wednesday, one at Siliguri and the other at Brigade Parade ground, the state BJP leaders are expecting a crowd only from south Bengal. Some supporters have already arrived at Howrah from Jhargram, Purulia and Asansol. It is expected that BJP supporters from Jharkhand, Bihar and Odisha will attend the PM’s Brigade rally.