As many as 1,200 Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) buses, 600 private school buses, and scores of tractors and multi-utility vehicles (MUVs) will ferry people across Saurashtra to Atkot village in Rajkot on Saturday for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public meeting for the inauguration of KD Parvadiya Multi-specialty Hospital.
“We have hired around 250 to 300 buses of the ST (state transport) for ferrying people to the venue of the public meeting. However, we shall pay for hiring these buses and are not using any government machinery for the event,” said Bharat Boghra, managing trustee of Shree Patel Seva Samaj Trust (SPSST).
Boghra, who is also the vice-president of the Gujarat unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), further said the entire event was being organised by SPSST with help from the saffron party and various other organisations.
“In all, we have hired 1,200 GSRTC buses, including the ones hired by SPSST. The rest have been hired by various organisations and individuals. For example, Kirit Patel, the president of Junagadh district unit of the BJP has hired 100 GSRTC buses and Rajkot MP Mohan Kundariya has hired 200 buses,” Rajkot Builders Association president Paresh Gajera, who is a part of the organising team of the event, said.
Boghra, further said they have made arrangements for serving lunch to all those who come to Atkot for the inauguration.
“We have made arrangements for serving full lunch to around three lakh people. Not only that, 1.2 lakh litres of water will be available inside the domes erected for the public meeting. In all, around 11,000 volunteers and BJP workers will be there to help people and maintain order,” Boghra said, adding, “We have set up around 30,000 hoarding boards across Saurashtra on the scheduled inauguration. I am also going to villages to invite people to the inaugural ceremony.”