Meerut:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a rally in Meerut tomorrow to kick off the Lok Sabha campaign in Uttar Pradesh, with the BJP fielding actor Arun Govil, famous for TV series Ramayana, as its candidate people.

According to sources, apart from Arun Govil, BJP chief Jayant Chaudhry, who recently joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, will also share the stage with the prime minister.

Arun Govil became a household name after playing the role of Lord Ram in Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan.

A BJP leader said, “Prime Minister Modi will start campaigning in the state from Arungovil constituency after consecrating an idol of Lord Ram at an Ayodhya temple in which he played the role of Lord Ram , highly respected.”

The party’s national general secretary Anup Gupta has been given the responsibility of coordinating the Prime Minister’s rally. A senior BJP leader said that besides Meerut, people from nearby Baghpat, Binol, Muzaffarnagar and Kairana Lok Sabha constituencies will also participate in Sunday’s rally.

PM Modi’s Meerut rally will prove to be a landmark in western Uttar Pradesh, senior BJP leader and MLC Govind Narayan Shukla said the party and its allies will win all 80% of the state Individual Lok Sabha seats.

A BJP leader said, “This is the first rally of the 2024 elections (in Uttar Pradesh). The party workers are lucky that the Prime Minister will start campaigning from Meerut.” According to RLD spokesperson Atir Rizvi , party president Jayant Chaudhary will share the stage with the BJP leaders at the rally.

Leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian Democratic Alliance said that Bharat Ratna, former Prime Minister Chaudhry Charan Singh, issues related to sugarcane growers and farmers and development of western Uttar Pradesh will be the focus of the rally .

President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday posthumously awarded Chaudhary Charan Singh the country’s highest civilian award, ‘Bharat Ratna’. The award was accepted by Jayant Chaudhary, grandson of the former Prime Minister, at a function held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi.

Local authorities have stepped up security ahead of the prime minister’s rally on Sunday. According to Article 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, it is prohibited to fly drones, kites or balloons within an 8-kilometer radius of the gathering place.

Polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held in all seven phases of the Lok Sabha elections. The first phase of polling in Bijnor, Muzaffarnagar and Kairana Lok Sabha constituencies will be held on April 19. Meerut and Baghpat will go to polls in the second phase on April 26.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)