Lucknow
Enthused with the stupendous victory in four Assembly elections, including Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is bracing up to showcase ‘saffron power’ at the swearing-in ceremony of Yogi Adityanath 2.0 on Mar 25.
The oath-taking extravaganza of Yogi Adityanath as UP chief minister (CM) for a second consecutive term will be held at the brand new ‘Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium’ in the bustling Gomti Nagar area of Lucknow.
More than 75,000 people are expected to attend the gala ceremony, which will be positioned as a massive show of strength by the saffron party.
The ceremony would be marked with the presence of Prime Minister and BJP’s biggest mascot Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda and defence minister Rajnath Singh apart from the CMs of 12 BJP-ruled states.
The CMs of the BJP-ruled states, viz. Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Manipur and Goa, are expected to attend the function.
At the same time, the CMs of states where BJP is part of the ruling alliance have been cordially invited. These comprise Bihar, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Puducherry.
Besides, all the remaining CMs belonging to different political parties have been extended invitations to partake in the proposed ceremony.
Meanwhile, top industrialists and industry captains have also been invited to the flagship event, which has been cleverly crafted to latently amplify the BJP outreach to the people and create the bedrock of future campaigns in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The UP unit of the BJP has started the process of personally contacting all the invitees for Friday's swearing-in ceremony. All the prominent opposition party leaders have also been invited.
Meanwhile, the process of decorating important intersections in Lucknow has been undertaken on a war footing even as the 16 km route from Lucknow airport to the Ekana Stadium would be virtually converted into a BJP fiefdom replete with party flags, banners, hoardings and decorative flowers. Breath-taking fireworks have been planned at some of the main roundabouts in the capital city.
According to officials, nearly 7,500 security personnel would provide a fool-proof three-tier security net at the Ekana Stadium amid the presence of VVIPs to manage such a mammoth gathering.
Moreover, snipers would be deployed at vantage points in the high-rise buildings on the periphery of the stadium.
Nearly 40 legislators of the BJP and alliance partners are expected to be sworn in as the cabinet ministers on the inaugural day of Adityanath government 2.0. About 27,000 chairs would be arranged in the ground apart from 50,000 seats in the stands to witness the historic moment.