Claims till date registration has crossed one lakh
TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: The MGP and independent MLAs, who have extended support to the Bharatiya Janata Party government, will be invited for their prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s rally on January 12, Health Minister Laxmikant Parsekar said on Thursday.
Addressing a press conference, Parsekar said that going by the current response the party expects more than one 1.5 lakh people to attend the Merces rally. People have to register by paying Rs five to attend the rally.
Parsekar said that till date the registration has crossed one lakh and there is possibility of footfalls from neighbouring states of Maharashtra and Karnataka. “With two days left, there is demand for 80,000 more receipts which are circulated through one thousand five hundred booths in all the 40 constituencies,” he said. Nearly 1,500 buses would be hired to ferry people to the venue.
Parsekar said that the online registration is receiving good response from college students. “Our allies (MGP and independents) are also campaigning in their respective constituencies for the rally,” he said. The rally dais, that will see presence of Modi, national president Rajnath Singh, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar along with his party and cabinet colleagues, would be also shared by MGP and independent MLAs.
Of the total five Independent legislators, four – Avertano Furtado (Navelim), Benjamin Silva (Velim), Rohan Khaunte (Porvorim) and Naresh Sawal (Bicholim) have extended their support to BJP-led government.
“This rally would be semi-final of Lok Sabha polls. We will win this semi-final,” Parsekar said adding that the presence for the rally would be a historic one. Some years back we had a public rally with record presence of 50,000 people when then prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was present. “This time we will break our own record,” he added.
People like doctors, industrialists, advocates, senior journalists are invited for the rally. Total 12 video screens would be put up at the venue. According to the police there would be more than 500 armed personnel besides reserved forces deployed at all crucial spots, which are being identified.
