Security Beefed Up In Tripura For PM's Visit; Trains Arranged For Ferrying People To Rally Venue

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.

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.