Poster war erupts in Gaya before PM Narendra Modi's visit

Gaya: A poster war has erupted between ruling JD(U) and opposition BJP in Gaya ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the holy city to address a party rally scheduled for Sunday.

District administration officials said BJP workers claimed that posters and hoardings put up for Modi's rally were torn and replaced with banners projecting Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and carrying slogan 'We won't be deceived and will ensure victory for Nitish'.

The JD(U) workers were quick to rebut the allegations and claimed that BJP workers had pulled down their posters and replaced them with posters of the Prime Minister.

Gaya District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Agarwal said, "We have received poster and hoarding related complaints from two places. There are claims and counter claims by workers of two political parties. We are probing the matter and necessary action will be taken."

Meanwhile, intensive checking of incoming and outgoing vehicles is being conducted at various checkpoints.

The Gaya DM said that over 2,000 police constables and 1,000 magistrates and police officers have been deployed especially on rally duty. The security arrangements are apart from the inner circle security provided by Special Protection Group to the Prime Minister. Traffic plan of the city has been strengthened.

"We have rehearsed the carcade movement today. 10 new gates have been made at Gandhi Maidan rally venue to deal with crowd. Earlier, there were just three gates. CCTV cameras have been mounted at vantage points. Metal detectors have been installed at the gates. Everything will be 100 per cent ready by today evening," Agarwal added.

Modi is expected to arrive shortly after noon to address the rally and fly out of the city after it ends. This is his second visit to Bihar after becoming PM. He had visited Patna to launch several central government schemes and facilities on July 25 and had addressed a political rally at Muzaffarpur in North Bihar.