Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch development projects worth more than Rs 19,100 crore in Bulandshahr in western Uttar Pradesh on Thursday and also address a rally, building on the momentum generated from the Ayodhya temple inauguration as the BJP looks to face the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as Ram as the leitmotif.

“Modi is expected to revisit much of what he said in Ayodhya on Monday. He had said Ram is India’s thought, law, norm and policy. He declared in his own fashion that Ram is the chief deity of India and Indians and indicated that he has given a magnificent Ram temple to the country. In fact, he has successfully merged religion and State and this is bound to reflect in the election campaign over the next two-three months,” a senior BJP leader said in Ayodhya on the condition of anonymity.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath visited Bulandshahr on Wednesday and reviewed the arrangements at the Chandmari Ground, where Modi will address the rally. Adityanath also reviewed the security measures.

Government sources said the Special Protection Group had visited the spot and taken control of it while the local administration has declared the area a no-flying zone. Commandoes of the National Security Guard and over 80 administrative officers also reached Bulandshahr on Wednesday.

Shlok Kumar, senior superintendent of police of Bulandshahr, said: “We are deploying 5,000 policemen and 11 companies of paramilitary forces to maintain law and order. Over 80 administrative officers will be here to manage the security during the Prime Minister’s presence in the district.”

The 5,000 policemen will include 800 head constables, 500 woman police personnel, 100 inspectors and 1,000 sub-inspectors, he added.

Modi will also lay the foundation stone of Major Dhyan Chand University in Meerut and Kalyan Singh Government Medical College in Aligarh from Bulandshahr.

Munshi Lal, the assistant regional transport officer, said 2,000 private buses had been arranged to ferry those who would attend the Prime Minister’s meetings. “We have acquired 900 buses of schools and colleges in Bulandshahr and brought about 1,100 more from adjoining districts,” he said.

Vikas Chauhan, the district president of the BJP, said: “We are always in election mode but this time it is more important because Modi is coming here three days after opening the Ram temple in Ayodhya. It is obviously going to help the BJP win many seats from the east to the west.”

Dharm Pal, general secretary of the Uttar Pradesh unit of the BJP, said: “The people trust the BJP even more after the Ayodhya event. Our ancestors had sacrificed their lives for the Ram temple. Besides constructing the temple, the BJP government is also doing development work.”

Ayodhya woes

Devotees continued to have a tough time in Ayodhya on the second day of the opening of the shrine. The police blocked all the roads to Ram Path, where the temple is located, and prevented the devotees from reaching there.

“We have deployed 8,000 policemen near the temple today (Wednesday) to manage the situation. The crowd is less than yesterday and the arrangements are better. We have made four queues of pilgrims and are requesting them to have patience,” said Prashant Kumar, director-general of police (law and order).

President of the International Hindu Parishad, Praveen Togadia, visited the temple on Wednesday and claimed that Modi and home minister Amit Shah would pave the way for bigger temples in Mathura and Kashi (Varanasi).

“The PM and the home minister have the potential to scrap the Places of Worship Act, 1991, and build bigger temples in Mathura and Kashi,” said Togadia, a former Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader.

The Act ensures the maintenance of status quo at religious structures as they existed on August 15, 1947.