PM Narendra Modi to lead 45,000 at Rajpath yoga camp

“We plan to accommodate nearly 45,000 people on the 1.4 -km long Rajpath as well as 17 minor and major roads, which offshoot from it. Giant LED screens will be put up to air the CD, as the invitees would perform yoga after watching the asanas on it,” said a senior official.

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The invitees’ list has not yet been finalised, but security agencies are pruning the credentials of the guests on the basis of a tentative list that has been prepared, said the official. There will be elaborate security arrangements since the function will be attended by the PM and several senior ministers like Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Though the event is being organised by Morarji Institute, which comes under Ministry of AYUSH, the security arrangements are being monitored by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

“The yoga will be on for 35 minutes and everybody will have to emulate it from the CD that will be aired at the venue. The CD has been prepared since we are aiming at synchronisation of asanas. Those performing asanas at Rajpath will be given prior training. We have already issued the CD in English and it will now be translated into several regional languages,” said Dr Ishwar V Basavaraddi, Director, Morarji Institute of Yoga Sciences. The programme will be done in the open, as there are no plans to put up tents as of now.

Following a request by India, the United Nations had declared June 21 as International Yoga Day last year.

Delhi Police, commandos of National Security Guards (NSG) and other forces will be deployed on the occasion. The Republic Day parade, which is also held at Rajpath, is organised by the Defence Ministry, which has laid-down procedures for the event, acquired over years.

“If you leave aside Republic Day, this will be the first time that such a large-scale event is being organised on Rajpath where PM will be in attendance. Last year, the inauguration of Swachh Bharat campaign on October 2 was also done at Rajpath, but it was not such a grand affair,” said the official.

Security units are being briefed about crowd management and all the entry-exit points have been charted on a map.

Congress hits back: ‘No interference in working of govt’

Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested that Congress president Sonia Gandhi had been an “unconstitutional” authority exercising “real” power over the PMO during the UPA rule, the Congress said it saw nothing wrong in the party driving the government but asserted there was no “day-to-day interference” in the working of the government. “It (UPA I & II) was the party’s government… what is the party’s job? Make policies, principles… forward it to the government for implementation,” party leader Shakeel Ahmed said. ENS