Security beefed up in Tripura ahead of PM Modi's visit; trains arranged for ferrying people to rally venue

Agartala, Dec 17: Security has been tightened across Tripura for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's December 18 visit to the northeastern state, where polls are due early next year, officials said. The PM is expected to land at Maharaja Bir Bikram airport at 2.25 pm and leave for Vivekananda Ground in Agartala, where he would be addressing a rally amid tight security, said District Magistrate (DM), West Tripura, Debapriya Bardhan.

He will also lay the foundation stones for a series of initiatives and inaugurate multiple projects, besides interacting with the beneficiaries of the central and state governments, Bardhan stated.

Prime Minister will also inaugurate the State Institute of Hotel Management at Anandnagar and Agartala Government Dental College. With a focus on improving road connectivity, Prime Minister will inaugurate the project for widening of the Agartala bypass (Khayerpur - Amtali) NH-08, which will help ease traffic congestion in Agartala city. He will also lay the foundation stones for 32 roads of more than 230 Km length under PMGSY III (Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana) and for improvement of 112 roads covering a distance of over 540 Km.

The DM said that special trains have been arranged to ferry people from all over the state to the rally. Besides, buses will also be deployed for transporting beneficiaries of government schemes to the public meeting, he maintained.

Bardhan said Modi, after the rally, would head to the state guest house around 4 pm. Sources in the BJP said the PM will chair separate meetings of state ministers and the BJP core committee with an eye on the next year's Assembly election. The PM is scheduled to leave the state at 17.15 pm. The BJP government has urged the central and state government officials in Agartala to attend the rally.

"We are expecting 72,000 beneficiaries at the Vivekananda Ground on December 18. The entire ground will be under CCTV surveillance," he said. Superintendent of Police of West Tripura, Sankar Debnath, said the BSF has also been put on alert in view of the prime minister's visit. "The BSF and the Tripura State Rifles (TSR) are jointly patrolling the border areas," Debnath added.